On Wednesday, Democratic 2020 presidential candidate Cory Booker was treated to a lovefest on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. The liberal daytime host predictably fawned over the New Jersey Senator and urged him to attack the President, claiming that a series of recent tweets proved Trump was “losing his mind.” Later in the interview, Booker returned the favor by praising DeGeneres for her supposed “goodness, kindness, and decency.”
After Booker called for “sense of common purpose” among Americans early in the interview, DeGeneres lamented that “there are a lot of people who are angry right now and the country is very, very divided.” She pleaded: “...we do need to bring everybody together and remind us all that we’re the – basically the same inside, we all want the same things. There is no, ‘You’re wrong and I’m right.’”
Despite that seeming call for civility, just minutes later, DeGeneres was claiming the President was mentally ill:
Speaking of tweets and Twitter, this past weekend, our president I think tweeted more in a short amount of time then he’s ever tweeted before. I mean, it was an enormous amount of tweets. And some people are saying that he’s losing his mind, that he’s really losing his mind. What you say about that and what tweet upset you the most?
Following a commercial break, Booker actually gushed over the notion that DeGeneres was a model of “kindness” and “decency”:
Can I just thank you....you really are a leader for the spirit of goodness, kindness, and decency....patriotism is love of country, but you cannot love your country unless you love your fellow countrymen and women. And that love that you give, to me, is patriotic in a powerful way and we need more of that spirit. So thank you.
In reply, DeGeneres joked: “Well, thank you. I understand what you’re saying, but I will not be your vice president. I am busy with the show. But thank you.”
While Booker was celebrating “common cause” and “decency,” missing from the discussion was any mention of his incendiary claim just months ago that supporters of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh were “complicit” in “evil.”
The softball exchange began by DeGeneres fondly recalling a 2012 interview in which she urged Booker – then mayor of Newark, New Jersey – to run for the U.S. Senate, and eventually, the presidency: “So I want to remind you, you were here before, before you became senator...and let’s just show everybody how good I am at what I do.”
A clip ran of her telling Booker in 2012:
And I understand that you turned down a – I think President Obama offered you a position and you turned it down to stay where you are, and I think that’s admirable. But then, when your term is up, you pass the torch to someone else and then you become senator and then you become president, how about that? Think about it.
After the soundbite, Booker wondered: “You seem to have the gift of prophecy. Would you like to tell what I’m going to do for the rest of my life?” DeGeneres declared: “I see good things for you. You’re a good guy, you’re a smart guy.”
In the second part of the sit-down, DeGeneres noted that Booker was dating actress Rosario Dawson and proclaimed: “That would be an amazing wedding to have in the White House. I mean, if you go in single and then you have a wedding in the White House, I mean, we would watch. That would be like our royal wedding, it would be great.”
Booker requested DeGeneres be a part of the hypothetical ceremony: “Would you help preside over the wedding?” She agreed: “Yes, I would be a big part of that.”
DeGeneres often likes to claim that she is “not a political person in any way,” but frequently uses her show to promote Democratic causes and candidates. During the 2016 campaign, she famously told Hillary Clinton, “You know what a supporter I am.” DeGeneres is now eager to provide a friendly forum to boost a new crop of Democratic candidates ahead of the 2020 election.
Here are excerpts of the March 20 interview with Booker:
3:16 PM ET
(...)
ELLEN DEGENERES: So I want to remind you, you were here before, before you became senator, I think...
SEN. CORY BOOKER [D-NJ]: Yes.
DEGENERES: ...and let’s just show everybody how good I am at what I do.
BOOKER: Okay.
DEGENERES [APRIL 24, 2012]: And I understand that you turned down a – I think President Obama offered you a position and you turned it down to stay where you are, and I think that’s admirable. But then, when your term is up, you pass the torch to someone else and then you become senator and then you become president, how about that? [Cheers and applause]
BOOKER: I appreciate that.
DEGENERES: Think about it.
DEGENERES [MARCH 20]: I predicted that whole thing. [Cheers and applause] I mean –
BOOKER: You seem to have the gift of prophecy. Would you like to tell what I’m going to do for the rest of my life?
DEGENERES: Oh, well, the first one’s free, and then you’ve gotta pay. But I see good things for you.
BOOKER: Thank you.
DEGENERES: You’re a good guy, you’re a smart guy.
(...)
3:18 PM ET
BOOKER: We have so much common cause in this country, a lot of common pain. And we really, I think, leaders that are going to call us – not divided us – but call us back to a sense of common purpose. [Cheers and applause]
DEGENERES [CLAPPING]: Yeah, I agree with that. Yes, because – because there are a lot of people who are angry right now and the country is very, very divided. And I think we do need to bring everybody together and remind us all that we’re the – basically the same inside, we all want the same things. There is no, “You’re wrong and I’m right.”
(...)
3:19 PM ET
BOOKER: And at a time in this country where we are seeing toxic Twitter trolling and trash talking, I think the best antidote to that, the best thing that’s gonna win against that is not fighting darkness with darkness, but is bringing light and decency and grace back to our politics. [Cheers and applause]
DEGENERES [CLAPPING]: Yes. So speaking – speaking of tweets and Twitter, this past weekend, our president I think tweeted more in a short amount of time then he’s ever tweeted before. I mean, it was an enormous amount of tweets. And some people are saying that he’s losing his mind, that he’s really losing his mind. What you say about that and what tweet upset you the most?
(...)
3:25 PM ET
DEGENERES: We are back with Senator Cory Booker, who is running –
BOOKER: Can I just thank you – I want to interrupt right now.
DEGENERES: Yes.
BOOKER: I think that what you do about – you know, there’s a saying I love that you can’t lead the people if you don’t love the people. And we’re talking about politics, but you really are a leader for the spirit of goodness, kindness, and decency. [Cheers and applause] And I want to say this – I want to say this in this way, I have a – patriotism is love of country, but you cannot love your country unless you love your fellow countrymen and women. And that love that you give, to me, is patriotic in a powerful way and we need more of that spirit. So thank you. [Cheers and applause]
DEGENERES: Well, thank you. I understand what you’re saying, but I will not be your vice president. [Laughter] I am busy with the show. But thank you.
(...)
3:27 PM ET
DEGENERES: That would be an amazing wedding to have in the White House. I mean, if you go in single and then you have a wedding in the White House, I mean, we would watch. [Applause] That would be like our royal wedding, it would be great.
BOOKER: So you’re saying if Rosario and I get there, wait, don’t do the marriage before 2021, January 2021.
DEGENERES: Yeah, for sure, wait and have a big thing. And sweeps, it would be really important.
BOOKER: Would you help preside over the wedding?
DEGENERES: I would do – yes, I would be a big part of that.
BOOKER: Is that a promise?
DEGENERES: Yes, yes. [Cheers and applause]
BOOKER Alright, alright.
(...)
