Booker hits Biden on criminal justice: ‘You want to compare records, and I’m shocked that you do’

Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) jabbed former Vice President Joe Biden for criticizing his crime-fighting record as mayor of Newark, N.J., turning to his 2020 primary rival on Wednesday and declaring bluntly: “There’s a saying in my community: You’re dipping into the Kool-Aid and you don’t even know the flavor.”

{mosads}”It’s no secret that I inherited a police department with massive problems and decades-long challenges. But the head of the ACLU [American Civil Liberties Union] has already said, the head of the New Jersey ACLU, that I put forth national standard-setting accountability,” Booker said on the Detroit debate stage after Biden criticized him for using controversial stop-and-frisk tactics to fight crime and hiring a top adviser to former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R). 

“If you want to compare records, and I’m shocked that you do, I’m happy to do that,” Booker said, as the crowd “oohed” with excitement. 

Biden said Booker did nothing during his eight years as Newark mayor to crack down on police abuse, which he said resulted in a disproportionate incarceration of young African American men.

The heated exchange came as Booker and Biden clashed over criminal justice reform and Biden’s role in drafting the 1994 crime bill, which has been blamed for a massive rise in incarcerated African Americans.