Booker OK with calling out Trump administration officials in a way that ‘leads with love’

Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) on Monday urged protesters of President Trump to confront administration officials — but with respect — amid an ongoing debate over civility in politics.

“If I saw an administrator out and about, there’s nothing wrong with confronting that person. But not to lead with love and to do it in a way that is more reflective of the values we are trying to reject in our country is not acceptable to me,” Booker said on MSNBC. 

“I worry in our country right now that we’re descending to a hatred of American hating American. That is not going to solve our problems,” he added. 

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Booker’s comments come amid a growing discussion over the recent treatment of Trump administration officials.

A restaurant in Lexington, Va., refused to serve White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Friday, citing her defense of Trump’s policies banning transgender people from the military and separating migrant families at the border.

That followed separate incidents last week in which protesters confronted White House aide Stephen Miller and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen while they dined at Mexican restaurants in Washington, D.C.

Rep. Maxine Walters (D-Calif.) escalated tensions when she encouraged supporters to harass Trump administration officials in public places.

“For these members of his Cabinet who remain and try to defend him they’re not going to be able to go to a restaurant, they’re not going to be able to stop at a gas station, they’re not going to be able to shop at a department store, the people are going to turn on them, they’re going to protest, they’re going to absolutely harass them until they decide that they’re going to tell the president ‘no I can’t hang with you, this is wrong this is unconscionable and we can’t keep doing this to children,’” Waters said Saturday.

The president has seized on the controversy, attacking Waters as “low IQ” and using his personal account to call the Red Hen dirty.

The Red Hen Restaurant should focus more on cleaning its filthy canopies, doors and windows (badly needs a paint job) rather than refusing to serve a fine person like Sarah Huckabee Sanders. I always had a rule, if a restaurant is dirty on the outside, it is dirty on the inside!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 25, 2018

Congresswoman Maxine Waters, an extraordinarily low IQ person, has become, together with Nancy Pelosi, the Face of the Democrat Party. She has just called for harm to supporters, of which there are many, of the Make America Great Again movement. Be careful what you wish for Max!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 25, 2018

Booker on Monday encouraged Americans to protest Trump administration policies, specifically the separation of migrant families at the border. However, he appeared to reject Waters’s rhetoric.

“We’ve got to get to a point in our country where we can talk to each other, where we are all seeking a more beloved community,” Booker said. “And some of those tactics that people are advocating for to me don’t reflect that spirit.”