Oh boy — if you thought the Senate floor was dull this summer, Cory Booker just blew that notion to pieces. The New Jersey senator lit into his own party on Tuesday, unleashing a fiery tirade at Catherine Cortez Masto and Amy Klobuchar that had all the theatrics of a campaign stump speech. And make no mistake — this sounded a lot like someone testing out lines for a 2028 run.
The spark? A package of police funding bills. Cortez Masto tried to push them through by unanimous consent, but Booker wasn’t having it. He accused fellow Democrats of being “willing to be complicit” with Donald Trump, railing that his colleagues were letting the president dictate which states got funding — leaving blue strongholds like New Jersey, New York, and California out in the cold. “Don’t be complicit to the president of the United States,” he thundered. “This is a wake-up call.”
Today, the Senate floor looked less like a chamber of serious debate and more like a stage for Cory Booker’s temper tantrum.
Why?
Because the American people rejected the Democrats’ radical agenda and took their country back. He’s right about one thing: his party does need a… pic.twitter.com/d0bpZkXITY
— Wesley Hunt (@WesleyHuntTX) July 30, 2025
Translation: Booker wants Democrats to use the leverage they have on these funding proposals to force Trump to release the hold on money for blue states. In his telling, anything less is a betrayal of the Constitution — a theme he hammered over and over again while blasting law firms, universities, and even corporations for “bending the knee” to Trump.
He even worked in shots about Columbia University settling with the administration and CBS canceling The Late Show with Stephen Colbert to curry favor with regulators for a merger.
Klobuchar, though, wasn’t about to let Booker play the lone crusader. She coolly reminded everyone that Booker had objected to her policing legislation long before Trump was even in office. Then came the dagger: a jab about Booker missing the Judiciary Committee markup where these bills were passed weeks ago. “I can’t help it if someone couldn’t change their schedule to be there,” she said.
Cory Booker and Amy Klobuchar going at it. (Senate democrats) pic.twitter.com/cnv8MSxXyk
— 🏳️⚧️🏳️🌈🌹Jackie (Kaoticsocialist on BLSKY) (@KaoticLeftist) July 30, 2025
That… did not sit well. Booker, clearly stung, shot back about his track record on policing legislation and shared an emotional story about losing a close friend — a New Jersey police officer — to suicide.
Cortez Masto piled on too, saying Booker had waited until the last minute to drop his amendment and calling his floor rhetoric “disappointing,” especially since the bills had strong bipartisan support. Her bottom line: these bills give police the tools they need, and Democrats should be about keeping communities safe — not burning bridges.