Cory Booker couldn’t help himself.
The Democratic senator from New Jersey took to the Senate floor on Tuesday night to express his “excitement” over a controversial measure regarding police funding. Alabama Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville introduced Amendment 3113 to the Democrats’ $3.5 trillion spending bill with the goal of cutting federal funding for jurisdictions that defund their police departments.
Many Democrats have been hesitant to express support for defunding the police, as Republican leaders have tried to paint the left as “anti–law enforcement.” Booker poked fun at the transparent attempt to propagate this narrative, and enthusiastically thanked Tuberville for proposing an amendment that would reassure the public that Democrats were not against police funding.
“I am so excited!” Booker said. “This is perhaps the highlight of this long and painful and torturous night. This is a gift. If it wasn’t complete abdication of Senate procedures and esteem, I would walk over there and hug my colleague from Alabama. There’s some people who have said that there are members of this deliberative body that want to defund the police, to my horror, and now, this senator has given us the gift that finally, once and for all, we can put to bed this scurrilous accusation that somebody in this great, esteemed body would want to defund the police…sure, [he] will see no political ads attacking anybody here over ‘defund the police.’”
The 52-year-old Democrat continued, “I would ask unanimous consent to add something else to this obvious bill. Can we add also that every senator here wants to defund the police, believes in God, country and apple pie?”
Cory Booker also urged his fellow senators to “sashay down there and vote for this amendment” to finally put the “lies to rest.” Amendment 3113 passed unanimously in a 99-0 vote.
You can watch Booker’s now-viral speech above.
