Kristen Welker, host of NBC's Meet the Press, confronted Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) with a clip from 2016, where he spoke about love and unity. Specifically, Booker declared, “I love Trump,” while also saying he wouldn't answer hate with hate, choosing love over darkness.
Booker has built his image as a man of principle and unity, and when running for president in 2016, he stood before cameras and spoke about love in a way that sounded firm and sincere. Now, however, with Trump back in the White House, Booker acts as if that moment never happened.
The clip shows him at his most polished, when he urged people to reject hate and respond with love. Today, he's the tip of the sanctimonious spear, leading attacks against the same president he once spoke about in very different terms.
Obviously, he's hired a new PR firm to spread his new message.
Booker has spent years presenting himself as the steady voice during tense moments. He ran for president on messages of hope and connection, as voters heard him talk about rising above direction. The 2016 clip clearly captures that message when he refused to match anger with anger, instead choosing love.
Now, he avoids repeating those words and shifts to a vague reference to faith without addressing his change.
Welker deserves credit for putting the clip on screen; she didn't soften the moment or move past it. She let Booker's own words do the work. Booker had to respond in real time with no room to reset the conversation. That kind of direct questioning doesn't happen to Democrats enough, and it showed.
Booker was also asked about his presidential ambitions.
The Democratic senator was also asked about whether he was planning to run for president in 2028.
"I am definitely not ruling it out. I’m running for re-election; I hope New Jersey will support me for another six years," he said.
In February, the senator said he hadn't "dismissed" a possible presidential run.
The exchange lands as a long-delayed moment of accountability. Booker built a reputation on language about unity and restraint, positioning himself as someone who wouldn't feed division.
Now, the public sees a different approach when the political stakes shift, when he once spoke about love in clear terms. Today he avoids saying anything without weighing the cost.
Booker's job as senator gives him a national platform, which hasn't changed. What has changed is how people view the gap between his past statements and present behavior. The clip undercuts the image he worked to build, but it would be fun to watch a documentary of his journey from 10 years ago to today.
If you noticed, Booker never directly addressed the shift, relying on a general statement about faith instead of confronting his words. That “response” leaves questions unanswered. The same senator who once spoke about love now takes a far more aggressive tone toward the same figure.
True leaders need to be consistent when talking about principles, while people expect those principles to hold when the moments get tough. Booker had a chance to explain the change, but he chose not to.
As the saying goes, tigers and their spots.
There's a simple takeaway from the exchange: words spoken in public don't disappear; they stay on record and boomerang at moments like this. What he said years ago isn't as shocking as a major network playing those archived clips to a Democrat live on the air.
Booker should've known that when leaders speak in absolute terms, there may be comparisons later, a reality he faced.
So, which is the correct Cory Booker, then or now?
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