New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker condemned the role billionaires have taken in the 2020 Democratic primary and blamed them for Sen. Kamala Harris’s early departure from the race.
Harris’s announcement that she was dropping out of the presidential race surprised some after the strong start to her candidacy. The California senator ended her campaign before many others who were trailing her in the polls.
Booker blamed billionaires for Harris’s exit from the race during an interview on ABC’s This Week. He compared her race to that of John Kerry’s 2004 presidential bid, where he became the Democratic nominee despite struggling ahead of the Iowa caucuses.
“John Kerry, polling like her at 4%. John Kerry pulled out all of his other campaign places, folded it all into Iowa, just like Kamala Harris. John Kerry had problems in his campaign. I think he fired staff, just like people reported there was turmoil in Kamala Harris’s campaign. But John Kerry made it to Iowa because he loaned himself $5 million,” Booker explained. “Kamala Harris cannot loan herself $5 million.”
He added, “We should be stopping the influence of big money in politics. Kamala Harris stopped her campaign because of the campaign finance rules and the fact that she couldn’t do what we see billionaires doing in this race, which is flooding ads to jack up their poll numbers and get in.”
Two billionaires, Tom Styer and former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, have entered the Democratic primary but have failed to break into the top tier of candidates.
Host George Stephanopoulos pushed back on Booker’s case.
“Joe Biden’s not a wealthy man. Pete Buttigieg is not wealthy. Bernie Sanders is not that wealthy. Senator Warren is not that wealthy. They’re all staying in and doing better,” he said. “So, that doesn’t explain it.”
Booker tried to reaffirm his point, “It’s not just billionaires, it’s the fact that Iowa voters should have the right to choose.”
Booker, 50, has yet to qualify for the December Democratic primary debate. The RealClearPolitics polling average shows him with 2% support.
