Weighing in on his 2020 Democratic rival Joe Biden’s comments about his friendships with segregationists, Sen. Cory Booker predicted the former vice president would not be his party’s presidential nominee.
The New Jersey Democrat has not gone after the former vice president by name as the two vie for the party’s nomination. That changed Wednesday as Biden faced criticism for his comments invoking two segregationist senators.
Booker, who is black, responded to a tweet from a Twitter user, who captioned a photo of a woman looking sad, “me realizing i’m going to have to vote for joe biden in 2020.”
“No, you won’t,” Booker wrote to the woman.
No, you won’t. https://t.co/x8E7Mlriue
— Cory Booker (@CoryBooker) June 19, 2019
Shortly after the tweet, he called on Biden to apologize for the remarks, saying Biden was “wrong” for using his relationships with two segregationist Democrats who served with him in the Senate in the 1970s as an example “of how to bring our country together.”
“You don’t joke about calling black men ‘boys.’ … Vice President Biden’s relationships with proud segregationists are not the model for how we make America a safer and more inclusive place for black people, and for everyone,” Booker said in a statement. “I’m disappointed that he hasn’t issued an immediate apology for the pain his words are dredging up for many Americans. He should.”
At a fundraiser in New York on Tuesday, Biden named James O. Eastland and Herman Talmadge as examples of politicians he could work with.
“Well guess what? At least there was some civility. We got things done,” the former vice president said.
“We didn’t agree on much of anything. We got things done. We got it finished. But today, you look at the other side, and you’re the enemy. Not the opposition, the enemy. We don’t talk to each other anymore.”
Biden has been leading his primary challengers in the polls, since even before he announced his candidacy in April. A RealClearPolitics average of national polls has him up by double digits.
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