Cory Booker's Record-Setting Senate Speech Also Hits Highs On YouTube

Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) spoke on the floor of the Senate for over 25 hours this week, breaking a record that stood since 1957. And while the lengthy speech about the harms of the Trump administration received plenty of outside press, Booker's office also did an admirable job of being the direct source of the content for many viewers.

• Data from Tubular Labs shows the senator's live stream received over 2.2 million views on YouTube throughout the speech, which is the most-viewed YouTube video he's ever uploaded by more than 4x.
• Overwhelmingly, it was the most-viewed YouTube video from a U.S. politician in the last week, and among the 50 most-seen news & politics videos in the U.S. over the last week as well.
• While speaking directly to constituents via social media isn't a new phenomenon, the speech effectively utilizing YouTube and gaining a significant number of views for a live stream shows there's a clear appetite for this content.
• To that point, C-SPAN has already seen a significant increase in YouTube this year as well, with 29.8 million views since Jan. 1, versus 19.1 million last year during the same stretch.