The Republican National Committee on Thursday mocked Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) over his “I am Spartacus” declaration, tying it to the senator’s potential presidential aspirations.
Booker had said during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing that he would release “committee confidential” documents related to Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.
The New Jersey lawmaker joined a number of other Democrats on the third day of Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearings in vowing to release the documents, which are supposed to be available only for the Senate panel’s members.
{mosads}Booker released documents involving Kavanaugh’s stance on racial profiling, while other Democrats threatened to release documents on other issues such as abortion.
“I am right now, before your process is finished, I am going to release the email about racial profiling, and I understand the penalty comes with potential ousting from the Senate,” Booker said at the hearing, acknowledging he would be “knowingly violating the rules.”
“This is about the closest I’ll ever have to an ‘I am Spartacus’ moment,” Booker added, referencing the ancient gladiator who led a Roman rebellion. After his capture, his followers stood up and proclaimed that they were Spartacus in an effort to protect their leader.
The GOP tweeted out a video beginning with Booker’s quote and then cutting to the pivotal scene from the 1960 film “Spartacus” in which men proclaim they are Spartacus.
The video then cuts to a title reading, “…said every Democrat running in 2020.”
Booker, a first-term senator and former Newark mayor, is regularly floated as a top Democratic presidential contender for 2020.
He is joined on the Judiciary Committee by other future potential Democratic candidates, including Sens. Kamala Harris (Calif.) and Amy Klobuchar (Minn.).