Sen. Cory Booker (D., N.J.) questioned the veracity of the American Dream on Tuesday, saying the United States is not necessarily "the top country" to be born today.
Booker appeared on the "Pitchfork Economics" podcast with co-hosts Nick Hanauer and David Goldstein to discuss multiple issues, including the economy and poverty rates.
The senator contrasted the conditions in America today with those in the 1930s, a time known as "the Great Depression," when his father was born.
"Even if you were a black guy like my dad and you were going to pick a country to be born in, the United States would be at the top of your list because we were expanding middle class at a rate that was creating opportunity," Booker said.
Booker, who announced earlier this month he was running for president, went on to say that for those born on planet Earth today, the United States is not necessarily the best place to live because of one's ability to get out of poverty.
"The United States of America is not gonna be, necessarily if you're just looking to get out of poverty, that's your only metric, this is not necessarily the top country if you're going to be born poor to get out. And that's actually an assault on the very idea of the American dream," Booker said.
"I think we need to be the party of reclaiming the dream," he continued. "We need to be the party of reimagining what this nation-- to create great pathways of prosperity and this is just one of those bills that my team and I are sitting down and thinking, "Okay. How is this being rigged? How are the rules changed? How can we address those changes?'"