Booker holds ‘Get Out the Vote’ event in South Carolina as presidential speculation builds

Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) traveled to South Carolina on Thursday, slamming the Trump administration and the current state of politics as speculation rises about his potential as a 2020 presidential contender.

Booker, who held a “Get Out the Vote” event at Allen University in Columbia, knocked the Trump administration’s handling of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi’s disappearance.

“I’m worried about efforts to cover this up,” Booker said, according to the Associated Press. “I’m worried about our administration being willing to just go along to get along because of a lot of the financial interests we might have.”

{mosads}Booker lamented today’s political climate, though he did not explicitly blame President Trump.

“If America hasn’t broken your heart, you don’t love her enough,” Booker told several hundred students at the historically black university. “The Republicans didn’t do this to us. We did it to ourselves,” he added, calling on the audience to honor earlier generations of civil rights activists by voting.

Booker told reporters after his speech that the he believed November’s midterm elections would be a “reaction” to Trump and that enthusiasm among independent and female GOP voters showed they “are outraged by what’s going on,” the AP reported.

Booker is widely seen as a possible 2020 presidential contender in an increasingly crowded field of Democrats. The New Jersey senator has also made trips to key states, including Iowa, Florida, Michigan and Wisconsin.

Former Vice President Joe Biden, another possible 2020 hopeful, has so far made trips to Iowa, Florida and South Carolina, among others. Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) have also made trips to crucial presidential states.

Sanders and Harris will both visit South Carolina later this week, and Biden made an appearance in the Palmetto State last week, according to the AP.