Cory Booker may not have secured Hillary Clinton’s VP spot, but he’s making a strong case for a presidential run in the future. The New Jersey senator took everyone to church in a moving speech during the Democratic National Convention which expressed a desire for unity while pointing out the many shortcomings of Republican nominee, Donald Trump.
"We can’t devolve into a nation where our highest aspiration is that we just tolerate each other. We are not called to be a nation of tolerance," he told the crowd. "We are called to be a nation of love…This understanding of love is embodied in the African saying: ‘If you want to go fast, go alone, but if you want to go far, go together.’ This is one reason I’m so motivated in this election. I believe it’s a referendum on who best embodies the leadership we need to go far, together."
According to Booker, Trump does not embody this quality. To punctuate that point, he brought out all the receipts on the Apprentice host:
We’ve watched him try to get laughs at others’ expense; try to incite fear at a time when we need to inspire courage; try to rise in the polls by dragging our national conversation into the gutter. We’ve watched him cruelly mock a journalist’s disability. We’ve watched him demean the service of my Senate colleague. “He’s not a war hero,” Trump said. “He was a war hero because he was captured. I like people who weren’t captured.”
Booker then brought it home by quoting Maya Angelou while revisiting American history:
This is our history: escaped slaves, knowing that liberty is not secure for some until it’s secure for all, sometimes hungry, often hunted, in dark woods and deep swamps, they looked up to the North Star and said with a determined whisper, America, we will rise.
Booker ended his speech by saying, "And together, with Hillary Clinton as our President, America, we will rise." That's when Twitter went OFF.
This Corey Booker speech needs a church organ and a gospel choir. #DemsInPhilly pic.twitter.com/yvVEZqllsH
Sen. Corey Booker, 👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿 #DNCinPHL
If Corey Booker stays up there any longer the delegates are going to nominate him. #DemsInPhilly
Thank you, Corey Booker. You just made this thing a hot-damn, for-real, that's-what-I'm-talkin'-about convention. #DemsInPhilly
Speak on it, Booker.
