“I‘m Cory Booker and I’m running for president of the United States of America,” the Democratic senator from New Jersey said in a video he released Friday.
With those words, Booker became the latest Democrat to try to unseat President Trump in 2020. Booker announced his candidacy on the first day of Black History Month, and made several references to the struggles of black and minority Americans.
“The history of our nation is defined by collective action; by interwoven destinies of slaves and abolitionists; of those born here and those who chose America as home; of those who took up arms to defend our country, and those who linked arms to challenge and change it,” Booker said.
I’m running for president. Join me on this journey. https://t.co/fEDqOVIfwh pic.twitter.com/h1FTPUYRzo
— Cory Booker (@CoryBooker) February 1, 2019
In his video, Booker talks about the common pain of American people and claims that needs to be channeled into finding a common purpose.
Booker will head to Iowa Feb. 8-9 and South Carolina Feb. 10. He also plans to visit New Hampshire over Presidents Day weekend.
The first primary contest takes place in Iowa, and Booker’s official announcement came out almost a year away from the Iowa caucus vote.
Booker implied in his video statement that President Trump is an erratic leader who isn’t right for America, and needs to be shown the door.
“I believe that we can build a country where… we see the faces of our leaders on television and feel pride, not shame,” Booker said in the video.
Booker has said for months he was considering a run for president in 2020, and he joins a few other high-profile lawmakers in what is expected to be a crowded Democratic primary field. Several dozen Democrats may end up running in a bid to unseat President Trump.
Another black senator, Kamala Harris of California, announced her bid for president on Martin Luther King Jr. Day last month.
Democratic Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand, N.Y., and Elizabeth Warren, Mass., have also launched official campaigns in the Democratic primary.
Booker’s tenure as mayor of Newark has the potential to hurt his candidacy, as he left a controversial record there. Among other things, Booker is accused of allowing corruption to run rampant at a publicly funded Newark water treatment and reservoir management agency while he was mayor.
