Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) on Thursday said he would not be running for president if former President Obama was running for a third term.
“Heck, if [Obama] was running for president for a third term, I wouldn’t be running,” Booker told CNN.
“The reality is we have a situation right now where the president is doing things to this country that are perverting our very values and ideals, and talking about what our plans would be, different from the previous president; different from the current president, is not a bad thing,” he continued.
{mosads}Booker was responding to a question about why many of the Democratic candidates during the previous night’s debate appeared to criticize a number of policies under the Obama administration, including his signature health care law, the Affordable Care Act.
“He [Obama] is our statesmen,” Booker said. “He ain’t perfect. Nobody’s ever pulled that off. Nobody has ever pulled that off.”
“I’m sure if Barack Obama was sitting here — and I hope he’s sleeping this morning — he would tell you, ‘I’ve made some mistakes,'” he continued.
“Donald Trump is a guy that my Republican colleagues can’t even criticize when he’s preaching racism,” he added, before continuing to praise Obama. “We are having an honest conversation about an administration that was incredible. I would take him back.”
Former Vice President Joe Biden has touted his professional relationship with Obama on the campaign trail, but has said he asked Obama not to endorse him in the race. Booker called his fellow candidate out on that during Wednesday’s Democratic debate.
“Mr. Vice President, you can’t have it both ways,” Booker said. “You invoke President Obama more than anybody in this campaign. You can’t do it when it’s convenient and then dodge it when it’s not.”