Cory Booker calls Donald Trump a ‘liar’ who uses ‘propaganda’
Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., accused President Trump of repeatedly lying to the American people and using propaganda to stir confusion and mislead the public.
In a Thursday night interview with CNN’s Erin Burnett, Booker said the media coverage of Trump should resemble reporting on any other politician. He argued that liars should be called “liars” and propaganda should be called “propaganda.”
“I don’t understand why the media is treating Donald Trump with such kid gloves. These are not ‘untruths.’ These are not ‘alternate facts.’ These are lies and propaganda,” Booker said.
“We have seen the president of the United States and his officials repeatedly lying to the American public and pushing out … what could be called propaganda to mislead the public. He needs to be called on it, and we as the American public should not accept a president that routinely lies blatantly to the American people.”
Booker similarly called Trump a “repeated liar” and “propagandist” in a conversation with MSNBC’s Chris Hayes on Thursday night.
Booker, who rose to national prominence as mayor of Newark from 2006 until 2013, said Trump’s hardline agenda to crack down on illegal immigration will actually leave U.S. cities more dangerous. On Wednesday, Trump signed two lengthy executive orders on illegal immigration and border security. According to Booker, key sections of the orders are un-American, and other sections would have unintended consequences. He cited a provision that reinstated “Secure Communities,” a controversial program that grants local law enforcement officials greater power to enforce immigration laws.
“Now you have immigrant communities afraid to report crimes or cooperate with local law enforcement,” Booker said. “There should be this distinction, and what Donald Trump is doing is actually making our communities less safe, and creating environments that create schisms as opposed to cooperation that local law enforcement needs.”
Booker declined to comment on whether his colleague Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., was correct in calling Trump “delusional” — the New Jersey lawmaker said he doesn’t know the president’s “mental state.”
Booker also criticized Trump for an expected executive order, under which he is reportedly planning to bar refugees from entering the United States for up to four months.
“We are the United States of America. This is not a time to allow terrorists to make us turn our back on our values,” he said. “We should actually be doubling down on the truth of who we are as a country.”
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