Sen. Cory A. Booker of New Jersey on Tuesday said he’s “a little angry” that a supposedly diverse Democratic presidential field will now be without Sen. Kamala D. Harris of California and that the next debate stage could feature no minority candidates.
“Today, I’m a little angry, I have to say, that we started with one of the most diverse fields in our history, giving people pride,” Mr. Booker said on MSNBC Tuesday evening. “And it’s a damn shame now that the only African-American woman in this race … is now no longer in it, and we’re spiraling towards a debate stage … that could have six people with no diversity whatsoever.”
He said the process is favoring “millionaires and billionaires and a lot of other things that don’t ever translate into viability in Iowa.”
“Kamala’s destiny should have been decided by voters in Iowa — not a lot of the other things,” he said.
Mr. Booker is currently on the outside looking in at the next Democratic debate later this month.
With Ms. Harris’s announcement on Tuesday that she’s dropping her White House bid, it appears that six candidates still in the race have qualified: former Vice President Joseph R. Biden, Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Indiana, Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, Sen. Bernard Sanders of Vermont, former hedge fund manager Tom Steyer and Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.