-Welcome back, everybody. We are talking to Senator Cory Booker.
The President names you specifically and says
you are trying to destroy the American dream by supporting
affordable housing in the suburbs.
You grew up in the suburbs.
Can you speak to the sort of blatant racism behind this,
both where he stands on the issue and why he keeps
bringing your name into it?
-Look, as one of my close friends said to me,
the fact that the President brought you up multiple times
in tweets and rallies should be a sign
that you're actually doing something.
But speaking to him is not what --
frankly, if I can answer your question more
by speaking to us, as a country, we are this phenomenal nation
with reservoirs of love and decency that are always there
but we don't always draw down upon them.
And this is a president who has so, I think -- been such poison
to the spirit and the energy that's in our country.
And I know of no other way to do that than to reject it.
And not to reject it with just, like, more bile.
I still remember, in one of my town halls
when I was running for president, a guy comes up to me
and says, "Dude, I want you to punch Donald Trump in the face."
And I looked at him and I laughed.
And I said, "Dude, that's a felony."
We cannot beat that energy by bringing more of that energy.
That's what he wants. He wants us to get down
and fight in the gutter
and in a way that none of us win.
This is a time when we see his kind of racism and bigotry.
We see his blatant fearmongering,
trying to prey upon the insecurities or latent strains
of negativity in our society.
We have to reject it and reject him.
I don't care what your party is.
Both parties, Republicans and Democrats,
we're better than this.
We should be calling people to the best of our angels,
the highest of our aspirations, to the best of our virtues
and not what he does on a regular basis,
which is demonstrate vile, dehumanizing, debasing behavior.
It's just wrong and, God, I just --
I don't want to just win this election
for some kind of partisan reason.
I want this to be a national rejection of Trumpism,
of all that he has brought into our public spaces.
And I want us to see, at the end of this election,
not just one candidate being elevated but all of us
committing ourselves to having a revival
in this country of civic grace.
-You had some spirited moments with former Vice President Biden
during the Democratic debates
but some amicable moments during the commercial breaks.
Is that right? -Yeah.
I have to say, I knew Joe Biden.
He swore me into the job that I had.
But I really got to know him in the way you do with, you know,
the rival kids you played with in high school, for example.
And I am just a big believer that contests like that
don't build character, they reveal it.
And by the end of the campaign,
I was thoroughly disarmed by him and admired him.
And I remember a tough moment.
He had said something that I found offensive.
And I still remember, I was on a major news network,
talking about it from my heart
and speaking about why it was so hurtful to me.
And then something that has never happened to me
before in public life -- I got off that station
and I get a phone call from Joe Biden.
And he doesn't call me.
It's not one of these puffery, political-speak kind of calls.
He called me with a sense of vulnerability
and saying to me, really, that he doesn't always get it right
and that he is still learning and he is still growing
and he really wanted to understand.
And, you know, Trump has this way of
never being wrong, never apologizing.
Biden has this way of saying, "You know what?
None of us are beyond sticking
our foot in our mouth, making mistakes.
But maybe, if we own up to them, we can all learn together,
all grow together, and heal together."
And so, by the end of the campaign,
I considered him a friend and someone that I admired
and now someone I very much want, especially at this time
where we need healing, I want him to be my president.
-I asked your colleague Senator Klobuchar this on Monday.
What are your plans for election night?
Where are you going to watch it?
How you going to feel?
-So, my hope is just to be relaxed while sitting next to
Rosario on a couch somewhere and eating junk food vegan.
And, God willing, watching an election that I hope --
we should all have the expectation
that it won't be decided that night.
But I have a lot of hope that night
that there'll be a lot to celebrate.
And also, you know, the Senate.
I mean, Mitch McConnell, who calls himself the Grim Reaper,
I'm really hoping that from Iowa to Texas to South Carolina
that we win a lot of Senate seats that people didn't expect.
Surprise a lot of people
and give a further repudiation of Trumpism.
-Alright. All the best to you.
Thank you so much for making time for us, Senator.
Really appreciate it. -Hey.
I just want to tell you something because
a lot of times, people think of
entertainment or art as entertainment.
And I just want to let you know that during this time of Trump,
you've just been one of those folks that I think
has given a master class in showing that satire
is essential to a democracy, the ability not only to
criticize power but, really, call it into question in a way
that stimulates people's understanding and action.
Art is essential to a democracy, especially in a time of trial.
And you've just done a wonderful job and have given me
not only a lot of laughter but even sustained and nurtured me
and nourished me in a time that I really needed it.
-I'm so glad you said that in front of my crew,
who do not respect me at all! [ Laughter ]