Sen. Cory Booker (D., N.J.) thinks that calling President Donald Trump a liar is "the right thing to do," but it also "violated" his values and made the up-and-coming senator "feel bad."
Booker described his unclear moral stance on criticizing the president in an interview with Vox's Ezra Klein published Tuesday. The senator discussed with Klein how he thinks the Democratic Party should shape its political message in opposition to Trump.
The New Jersey Democrat's views contrasted with those of Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.), who also spoke with Vox but advocated going blow-for-blow with Trump's often thorny social media personality.
Booker, on the other hand, said he wants a "politics of love." But he seemed to struggle morally with the idea of calling Trump a liar while desiring a "love-fueled politics."
https://twitter.com/grabmybutstick/status/869575582815629313
"I called Donald Trump a liar on national TV, and when I got off TV, I felt bad, because it violated my values," Booker said.
At the same time, the senator thinks it is right to call Trump a liar.
"I can say he was lying, which is the right thing to do, because he did lie, and he does lie quite often," Booker said.
Still, the senator added that calling the president a liar may be crossing a dangerous threshold.
"I didn't like to be crossing a line and condemning his soul," he said.
The senator appeared to conclude that it was right to call Trump a liar even though it violated his values and condemned Trump's soul. Booker did not explain how his conclusion squared with his "politics of love."
While Booker may think it is appropriate to condemn Trump for lying, a Washington Free Beacon fact check recently found that the senator himself is not a "truth-teller."