Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., refused to give his support to Democratic New York City mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani in a recent interview.
Booker repeatedly dodged CNN’s Manu Raju’s questions regarding whether he supported Mamdani, a self-described Democratic socialist. Raju’s questioning came as Mamdani has failed to garner endorsements from top party leadership including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., or House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y.
“Democratic leaders are not supporting [Mamdani],” Raju asked Booker in an interview that aired on Sunday. “Is that a problem? Do you support him?”
But Booker completely ignored Raju’s question and instead gave a vague response saying “the lines that divide us in America are not nearly as strong as the ties that bind us.”
“Big corporations, people want to keep our eyes on the screen, want to pit us against each other and tell us how much we should hate each other,” Booker said. “I am sorry. The left-right lens is not the right lens to look at this right now. Right now it is: Can we get back to the pragmatic work of governing?”
After Booker’s lengthy response, Raju once again asked him if he would support Mamdani.
“I have learned a long time ago: Let New York politics be New York politics,” Booker responded. “We’ve got enough challenges in Jersey. I got a governor’s race. I’m supporting Mikie Sherrill. I got legislative races. That’s where my energy is going to go going into November.”
He told New York City that it’s up to them to “figure out” who to elect.
“New York City, I love you,” Booker said. “You’re my neighbor. You’re about 10 miles from where I live. You guys figure out your elections. I’m going to focus on mine.”
Raju also asked Booker his take on the calls from the left to defund the police, which Mamdani made himself in a number of social media posts five years ago after the death of George Floyd. However, Mamdani has since walked back those tweets, saying they “were made amidst a frustration that many New Yorkers held at the murder of George Floyd.”
“Are statements like that still problematic for your party?” Raju asked Booker.
“I think, again, I’m going to speak for Jersey. Newark, New Jersey, a majority black city, five days after the George Floyd incident, if you had polled my city and said, ‘Do you want more police, less police, or the same amount of police?’ Newark would have overwhelmingly voted for more police,” Booker said. “We don’t want police violating our rights. We don’t want police endangering our lives, but we want safety and security as the fundamental foundation of Maslow’s pyramid. We want to have security in our community, and the police are part of that. An essential part of that equation.
“So anybody who’s saying ‘defund the police’ is wrong, and within the Democratic Party or within the nation, I will always fight that.”
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