Getty Cory Booker lives in Newark, New Jersey.
Cory Booker invoked Donald Trump’s comments on “s—hole” countries during the 2nd Democratic Presidential Debate. He didn’t censor himself, firing back at Joe Biden during an immigration discussion.
The former Vice President for Barack Obama was under fire for questioning related to questions about deportation numbers during that administration. Biden chose to keep his recommendations to the former President confidential, but Booker called him out for a double-standard.
“You can’t have it both ways,” Booker said. “You invoke President Obama more than anybody in this campaign. You can’t do it when it’s convenient and then dodge it when it’s not. And the second thing, and this really irks me, because I heard the Vice President say this, ‘You got a PhD, you can come right into this country.’ Well, that’s playing right into what the Republicans want…to pit some immigrants against other immigrants.”
“Some are from s—hole countries, and some are from working countries. We need to reform this whole immigration system.”
According to CNN, President Donald Trump “expressed frustration behind closed doors with people coming to the US from ‘s—hole countries'” back in January 2018.
Booker’s curse went uncensored on CNN, and received a massive ovation from the crowd at Fox Theater in Detroit. Here’s the video of the exchange.
Cory Booker calls out Biden’s dividing up of immigrants, and calls out Trump’s “shithole” countries comment. It was NOT bleeped. #DemDebate
Booker’s Wild Night
During Cory Booker’s opening statement and while New York City mayor Bill de Blasio was talking, you could hear hecklers yell: “Fire Pantaleo!” This is a reference to Officer Daniel Pantaleo, who was involved in Eric Garner’s death.
Booker paused to let the protestors be heard and then escorted out of the theater for the disturbance. One of the organizers of the protest is Tamika Mallory, who posted on Twitter afterwards that interrupting Booker was not intentional.
“We did NOT interrupt @corybooker, it was the Detroit Police Department that interrupted Booker and the debate to intimidate peaceful protesters for standing up for the dignity of Black life that had already completed protest minutes ago. This is our right. We won’t be silent,” Mallory tweeted.
He later clashed with Biden again, and fired another line that drew a raucous reaction. When battling over criminal justice reform, he pulled out a playground insult.
“There’s a saying in my community that you’re dipping into the Kool-Aid, and you don’t even know the flavor,” he said.
Booker is referring to accusations that Biden, during his time in the Senate and in the Obama administration, allowed for mandatory minimums that disproportionately incarcerated black Americans.
Between heckles to expletives to one-liners, Booker made himself known Wednesday night in Detroit.