Democratic Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey invoked imagery of darkness, storms and the need for foot soldiers to redeem the dream of America as he rallied party activists in Michigan.
Speaking at the Legacy Luncheon in Detroit to the Michigan Democratic Womens Caucus, Booker framed the political moment in apocalyptic terms, according to Western Journal. Drawing on his tenure as mayor of Newark, New Jersey, during Hurricane Sandy, he shifted from anecdote to alarm, suddenly shouting, Ladies and gentlemen, there is a storm in our nation!
There is darkness and wind, he warned. People are getting hurt! What we need is not from on high. We need foot soldiers of our Democracy who, in times of trial, are willing to stand up! Booker then turned his rhetoric into a call to political mobilization, pressing the audience with a rapid-fire series of questions.
Will you stand for our democracy? he asked. Will you stand to get out the vote? Will you stand for our children? Will you stand up for our elders? And will you stand together, unified, strong, be the hope that people need? Casting the moment as a partisan crusade, he added, We are Democrats! Its time for a new deal! Its time to redeem the dream of America.
Bookers performance was consistent with his long-cultivated image as a theatrical orator, a style that has often drawn more mockery than admiration from conservatives and even some in the media. In 2018, during the confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, he famously turned a routine document dispute into a self-styled act of heroism.
In that episode, Booker likened himself to a cinematic rebel, declaring, I appreciate the comments from my colleagues. This is about the closest Ill ever have in my life to an I am Spartacus moment, invoking the 1960 film in which slaves each claim to be Spartacus to share the punishment of Rome. He made the remark while boasting that he had supposedly defied Senate rules by releasing confidential White House emails related to Kavanaugh.
That narrative quickly unraveled when officials revealed Bookers office had been granted permission to release the documents hours before his dramatic flourish, undercutting his claim of civil disobedience. He was mocked by lawmakers and media personalities alike, reinforcing a pattern in which his soaring rhetoric and grandiose self-comparisons tend to collide with the facts, even as Democrats continue to cast him as a moral voice in their ongoing campaign against President Donald Trumps conservative legacy.
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