Cory Booker: ‘I Don’t Think We Should Have Two White Men on the Ticket’

Appearing Monday on SiriusXM’s The Joe Madison Show, failed presidential candidate Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) said he believes that two white men should not be on the 2020 Democrat ticket. 

Source: SiriusXM’s The Joe Madison Show

A partial transcript is as follows: 

JOE MADISON: What do you say to my audience and other audiences that they’ll be more millionaires on the [debate] stage and in the campaign than there will be black people. What do you say to them, particularly younger folk who might be turned off by this? And number two, would you consider being a running mate? 

SEN. CORY BOOKER: I’ll just be blunt. I didn’t know this much until I started looking at the presidency, how well-positioned African-Americans are to determine who the nominee is for the Democratic Party. I didn’t realize that from Maryland to Mississippi, African-Americans range from 40 to 70 percent of the primary electorate. There have been very few occasions, I think when Jesse Jackson ran, was one of the few and only times in modern presidential times when African-Americans have not really influenced or decided the winner because the black vote usually consolidates around one candidate and becomes the deciding factor. 

…

No matter what, whoever the next nominee is for our party, they better have an authentic connection to the African-American community and inspire and I use this word very purposely, trust. Because the Democratic Party has done a lot of things, mass incarceration is an example, that doesn’t necessarily align with the interests of African-American communities. I was excited in this election to see so many young folks, people of all ages in the black community really beginning to recognize their power. But, we have a lot more work to do. I’m hoping that the next nominee is someone who has that connection. I don’t think we should have two white men on the ticket anymore.