Bloomberg draws backlash after labeling black 2020 rival Cory Booker ‘well spoken’

Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg referred to New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, a black opponent for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, as “well spoken,” a comment that, like Joe Biden’s 2007 faint praise of rival Barack Obama as “articulate and bright,” drew criticism.

Bloomberg, 77, addressed the presidential prospects of Booker, 50, in a CBS interview aired Friday morning. Before winning his Senate seat in a 2013 special election, Booker was mayor of Newark, just west of New York City.