If you’re someone who pays attention to politics but didn’t know or care much about Cory Booker in 2018, you probably heard about the Democratic senator from New Jersey when he decided to make Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court confirmation hearings all about himself by claiming he was having a “Spartacus moment.”
With the reference, he was clearly trying to make himself out to be some outsized hero. The phrase comes from the famous scene in the 1960 film "Spartacus," where Roman soldiers demand the slaves identify their leader, Spartacus. Instead of revealing his identity, each one defiantly declares: "I am Spartacus!"
Sure, Cory, you are Spartacus. Also—you will never live that moment down.
More recently, he’s upped his drama game, speaking for 25 straight hours on the Senate floor in March in a weird protest that accomplished nothing and then holding a sit-in on the Capitol steps with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) in April, which virtually no one showed up to watch.
But on Tuesday, he took it to yet another level in a Senate speech screeching about Donald Trump’s policies and slamming his own Democrat colleagues for not fighting back hard enough. (What are they supposed to do? They’re in the minority.)
Booker, RedState’s Bonchie wrote, “just kept going and going, screaming at the top of his lungs, pretending to be a warrior as if he were storming the beaches of Normandy.”
SEE: Cory Booker Has a Complete Meltdown, Slams Other Democrats Because the Orange Man Is Just That Bad
Watch: Cory ‘Spartacus’ Booker Holds a Fake Hours-Long Anti-Trump Filibuster and ‘Nobody Cares’
The “bad Shakespeare” episode even has some liberals worrying about his sanity. Former Missouri Democratic senator and now paid leftist pundit Claire McCaskill found it all a bit much, even for her. Host Joe Scarborough looked sick to his stomach as she told an MSNBC panel that there’s a right way and a wrong way to do things—and Spartacus chose the wrong way.
…you have Cory Booker unfairly criticizing two strong Democrats that are doing everything they can in their power to fight Donald Trump...
And then there’s a way to get in the opening segment of ‘Morning Joe’ and on the front page of The New York Times. And Cory chose the latter, rather than the former. He knew if he did this, it would be a viral moment, and he would be associated with Democrats who are willing to fight.
It's cued up to the right spot:
I’d call that friendly fire, Mr. Booker.
There was more, however, as contributor Mike Barnicle had thoughts:
Well, it’s great theater that we just saw. Cory Booker… standing up and yelling on the floor of the United States Senate. What I don’t understand is: he’s yelling at two other Democrats. The Democrats have enough problems in this country defining themselves to people, making sure people know they are alive, they are interested in your life, they are interested in you, solving problems.
When you’re a Democrat and you’ve lost an MSNBC panel, you know you done messed up. Booker doesn’t seem like the most self-aware type, however, and probably thinks folks loved his over-the-top performance. Compared to the morose and dark Eeyore speech given by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) Wednesday, I suppose it compares favorably, but that’s really not saying much.
I seriously doubt these sorts of antics are going to turn things around for the Democrats. In fact, I’d argue that it’s exactly silliness like this that’s put them in the position that they currently find themselves in: flailing like fish on a boat deck in the hot sun.
Meanwhile, if you’re unable to get tickets for your local junior high Shakespeare production, you can grab some chicken wings and a beverage and watch this instead.
Editor's Note: Donald Trump and his team have been fighting against the left’s extreme agenda.
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