Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., is shocked — shocked! — that former Vice President Joe Biden would boast publicly about his history of working civilly in the U.S. Senate with segregationist Dixiecrats. Booker is so shocked, in fact, that he is registering his displeasure with any newsroom that will listen, making headlines along the way with juicy sound bites and quotable quotes.
Of course, Booker’s public remarks this week have also done wonders for his campaign’s previously nonexistent media exposure.
On Thursday, day two of Booker’s attacks on Biden, the senator told MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell that he should not have to explain why it is offensive for the former vice president to recall fondly the days of working cordially with overtly racist Democrats. The New Jersey senator also recounted a private phone call he had with Biden wherein the two reportedly attempted to sort out their beef.
“[Biden] said I should know better and I feel very strongly,” he said, “what I know is that Joe Biden should not need to be explained to about why that word is so hurtful. Why what he said would be something that people would find offensive and harmful and not advanced like we should hope for our nominee or for the leader of our party to advance the cause of racial reconciliation and get us to a point where we feel mutually invested in healing a lot of these racial disparities that exist in our country.”
Booker added, “I had an opportunity to explain to him even further … why racist senators like those would look at him and call him ‘son’ as seeing themselves in him. And see in a black man and call them ‘boy’ because they don’t see themselves but they see someone they are dehumanizing or degrading.”
Earlier, on Wednesday, Booker said he was disappointed that Biden had not “issued an immediate apology for the pain his words are dredging up for many Americans. He should.” Biden then said Booker should apologize to him for questioning his dedication to racial reconciliation.
On Thursday, after enjoying nearly 48 hours of wall-to-wall news coverage, Booker told MSNBC’s O’Donnell, “I think that Joe Biden should explain to people because it’s not about me. I don’t feel like I want an apology to me. I think that this is something he should speak to the public about and I think he has an opportunity here.”
“I understand where his intentions were and his heart was. It’s not about me or him. He said things that are hurtful and harmful and I believe he should be apologizing to the American people,” Booker added.
Sure. That is what this is about. Booker just wants to see the nation heal.
Just ignore the fact Booker’s presidential campaign, which has languished in seventh place in the 2020 Democratic primary, according to a RealClearPolitics polling average, has been rewarded this week with a burst of badly needed news coverage, including flattering headlines and exclusive interviews. Let us pretend for now that Booker, who is no stranger to self-serving theatrics, is truly aggrieved by Biden’s remarks about segregationists, as if he had been previously unaware of Democratic Party history. Let us pretend that Booker’s tour of the media circuit this week is about more than just puffing up his own campaign while also taking the 2020 front-runner down a notch.
