Failed presidential candidate Sen. Cory Booker (D., N.J.) on Tuesday argued the Democratic Party must prove its commitment to diversity by never again running a presidential ticket comprised of two white men.
"I don't think we should have two white men on the ticket anymore," Booker said during an interview on SiriusXM's Joe Madison Show. "Not because there's not great, talented, incredible white men, but I also believe that with the diversity of our party, the strength and leadership ... as Harvard Business School has said, diverse teams are stronger teams."
The New Jersey senator argued it's critical that Democrats nominate a candidate that the African-American community can trust.
"No matter what, whoever the next nominee is for our party, they better have an authentic connection to African-American communities and inspire, and I’ll use this word very purposely, trust," Booker said. "Because the Democratic Party has done a lot of things—you know mass incarceration is an example—that don’t necessarily align with the interests of African-American communities."
Booker's interview comes the day after he ended his own campaign for president after lackluster poll numbers.
Democratic Party voters are currently supporting white men by an overwhelming margin, as former vice president Joe Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) lead in the polls ahead of the Iowa caucuses. According to the RealClearPolitics polling average, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.) is the only Democratic presidential candidate in the top five who is not a white man, and Tuesday's Democratic debate in Des Moines will feature all white candidates. Warren and fellow senator Amy Klobuchar (D., Minn.) will be the only debate participants who are not white men.