Cory Booker’s Top 7 Moments as a Presidential Candidate

Democrat New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker left behind a variety of controversial statements and actions as he announced Monday that he would no longer seek his party’s nomination for president.

In no particular order, here are seven of Booker’s top moments as a presidential candidate:

1. When questioned about Breitbart News, Booker claimed in October of 2019 that he didn’t know who Andrew Breitbart was but that it was “fantastic” that the founder of Breitbart News was a pioneer of citizen journalism.

“What is this Bart that is bright? I don’t think I’ve ever heard of it,” Booker said at the time.

2. Before he announced he would no longer seek the Democrat nomination for president, Booker claimed earlier this month that he would rather campaign for president than focus on the impeachment of President Donald Trump.

“Having to be down in impeachment is bad for America, is sad for America, and I wish this wasn’t happening,” Booker said. “And so I swore an oath to do my job…but I would much rather be making my case to Iowans.”

3. In August of 2019, Booker admitted that former President Barack Obama “made mistakes” as president, but stated that he would let him seek another term if it were up to him.

“I would take him back,” Booker said of Obama at the time. “Heck, if [Obama] was running for president for a third term, I wouldn’t be running.”

4. In early 2019, Booker defended antisemitic Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), calling criticisms of her “reprehensible” and “trafficking in Islamophobia.” Booker said last April:

The criticisms of Congresswoman Omar, what Donald Trump has been saying about her is reprehensible, it is trafficking in Islamophobia, and it should be condemned by everyone. This kind of selective condemnation should be a chorus of people condemning it.

5. In November 2019, Booker claimed if he is the Democrat Party nominee for president, November 2020 will be a “wave election,” which will deliver Democrats the majority in the U.S. Senate.

“We’re the best person on that stage to unify the whole Democratic Party,” Booker said.

“I think if I’m the nominee, quite seriously, we’ll have a wave election that we can pull out,” Booker added. “We can win the senate seat in North Carolina, in Georgia, South Carolina.”

6. Last July, Booker took a shot at former Vice President Joe Biden and dismissed his criminal justice plan, saying he is the “architect of a failed system.”

“It’s not enough to tell us what you’re going to do for our communities, show us what you’ve done for the last 40 years,” Booker wrote in a tweet without naming Biden. “You created this system. We’ll dismantle it.”

Booker later released a separate statement amping up his attack against Biden.

“Joe Biden had more than 40 years to get this right,” Booker said. “The proud architect of a failed system is not the right person to fix it.”

7. Booker claimed in December, during an appearance on the popular radio show The Breakfast Club, that polling is “bullshit,” claiming that he remains “confident,” even as his poll numbers slip.

“I’m confident right now, just to let people know,” Booker said, before referring to polls as “bullshit” when host Charlamagne tha God suggested the word:

"Polling is BS!"- @CoryBooker wants you to know he's not out of this race just because his polling numbers are down. Full interview up now! pic.twitter.com/6CLvOJRB0T

— The Breakfast Club (@breakfastclubam) December 11, 2019