Mayor Booker Gets Hijacked By GOP
By: Kristopher Seals
On May 20, 2012, Mayor Cory A. Booker (D-Newark) appeared on the CBS program “Meet the Press.” He went on to make some comments that were meant to promote a positive message, but ended up becoming a Republican rallying cry.
During the program, Booker expressed his disapproval of how Team Obama was going after Mitt Romney’s record at Bain Capital.
“If you look at the totality of Bain Capital’s record they've done a lot to support businesses, to grow businesses. And this, to me, I’m very uncomfortable with,” Booker said on “Meet the Press”. “This kind of stuff is nauseating to me on both sides. It’s nauseating to the American public. Enough is enough. Stop attacking private equity. Stop attacking (Former Obama Pastor Rev.) Jeremiah Wright. This stuff has got to stop, because what it does is it undermines, to me, what this country should be focused on.”
Not long after, the GOP used Booker’s words to attack Obama in support of Romney (R-Mass.), the likely Republican Presidential Candidate. The GOP even went as far as to create the slogan, “I STAND WITH CORY BOOKER,” which was later shortened to “I Stand With Cory” on the GOP website. Other democrats were also featured in the advertising, with their words twisted in a similar manner.
Since then, Booker has taken to the offensive, posting a video online and appearing on MSNBC’s “Rachel Maddow Show” to clarify his remarks.
“I’m very upset that I’m being used by the GOP this way,” said Booker on the Maddow program. “If anything, they’ve turned me on to work harder for the next six months. I thought I was going to be quiet, but you’re going to hear a lot from me.”
Booker would go on say that Romney’s claims of being a job creator should be looked into, and that his appearance on the program was not under pressure of the Democratic Party.
In countering the GOP’s hijacking of his comments, Booker would later go on Twitter, posting, “Let me be clear, #IStandWithObama.”
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