Booker: ‘If You Come After Joe Biden, You’re Going to Have to Deal with Me’

Sunday during an appearance on CNN’s “Newsroom,” Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), a candidate for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, offered a stern warning for those criticizing former Vice President Joe Biden about his family’s business ties.

Booker seemed to be directing his remarks at President Donald Trump.

Partial transcript as follows:

CABRERA: Senator, the president has continued to throw out more baseless allegations against Joe Biden this weekend on Twitter. The former vice-president has now taken the president – – taken on the president directly in a new Washington Post op-ed, and he writes this. Trump is frantically pushing flat out lies. The bunk conspiracy theories and smears against me and my family no doubt hoping to undermine my candidacy for the presidency, but it won’t work because the American people know me, and they know him. To be clear, there is no evidence of wrongdoing by the former vice-president, or his son Hunter Biden, even the Ukrainian prosecutor, has said as much. Senator, if the overwhelming issue for Democrats is President Trump must be defeated. Do you feel that you and other Democrats should be doing more to speak in one voice that Joe Biden’s family is off-limits?

BOOKER: No, I’ve – – I’ve said time and time again that this is unacceptable that if you come after Joe Biden, you’re going to have to deal with me in this case. There is no, as you said, these are baseless, unfounded, scurrilous lies plain and simple. Trying to undermine the character of one of the statesmen of our country, not our party, but our country and so yes, you’ve got a problem with me. I can’t speak for this in a political context. This is just me as an American to see these kind of attacks, and whether it’s the lies this president tells about Joe Biden or lies he tells about – – about other American citizens to demean and degrade them. Hell, I found what he wrote about Mitt – – Mitt Romney to be absolutely unacceptable, assaulting another statesperson in our nation. And so this is a president that is demeaning and degrading. He is lying and deceiving, and there’s got to be some accountability and the fatigue of this country. There’s got to come a point that people just say enough is enough.

You know, we are a nation of virtue. We’re a nation where character matters and – – and this president is – – is engaging in a level of moral vandalism that has got to offend the sensibilities of all Americans. And so, yes, I’m sorry. I – – I was taught by my parents stand up for yourself but even more noble than that you should stand up for others who are being wrongfully attacked. And I don’t care if it’s one of his fellow Republicans Mitt Romney or the character of Vice-President Joe Biden, it’s unacceptable, and he’ll have a problem with me and I will always speak out against those kind of scurrilous attacks especially from a coward who is showing the greatest type of weakness there is which is lies, deceptions and cowardness.

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