Sen. Cory Booker said he loves fellow presidential contender Joe Biden despite voting for a 1994 crime bill.
“I use this word sincerely. I love Joe Biden,” Booker said in a Thursday interview with the Huffington Post.
After hedging with his love for the former vice president, Booker criticized Biden for his support of the 1994 crime bill.
“Good people signed on to that bill. People make mistakes. But let’s hold them to that. That crime bill was shameful, what it did to black and brown communities like mine [and] low-income communities from Appalachia to rural Iowa. It was a bad bill,” Booker said.
The New Jersey Democrat blamed the bill for building up prison populations and putting people away for unnecessary nonviolent offenses.
“The incentives they put in that bill for people to raise mandatory minimums, for building prisons and jails ― from the time I was in law school to the time I was mayor of the city of Newark, we were building a new prison or jail every 10 days in America while the rest of our infrastructure crumbled ― overwhelmingly putting people in prison for nonviolent drug offenses that members of Congress and the Senate admit to breaking now. That bill was awful,” Booker said.
Trump criticized Biden Monday over his support of the 1994 Crime Bill.
“Anyone associated with the 1994 Crime Bill will not have a chance of being elected. In particular, African Americans will not be able to vote for you. I, on the other hand, was responsible for Criminal Justice Reform, which had tremendous support, & helped fix the bad 1994 Bill!”
[Opinion: Trump is way to Biden’s left on crime]
Anyone associated with the 1994 Crime Bill will not have a chance of being elected. In particular, African Americans will not be able to vote for you. I, on the other hand, was responsible for Criminal Justice Reform, which had tremendous support, & helped fix the bad 1994 Bill!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 27, 2019
“Super Predator was the term associated with the 1994 Crime Bill that Sleepy Joe Biden was so heavily involved in passing. That was a dark period in American History, but has Sleepy Joe apologized? No!” Trump said.
….Super Predator was the term associated with the 1994 Crime Bill that Sleepy Joe Biden was so heavily involved in passing. That was a dark period in American History, but has Sleepy Joe apologized? No!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 27, 2019
Biden praised the crime bill this month saying it appropriated money to prevent crime, provided “rational gun policy,” and passed the Violence Against Women Act.
Biden is currently leading the Democratic presidential primary field by an almost 20 point lead according to RealClearPolitics polling average. Booker is polling in seventh place with 2% support.
