Cory Booker says many Democrats 'want to f***ing fight' as he slams colleagues for accommodating Trump

WASHINGTON, DC: Senator Cory Booker said on Tuesday, July 29, that many in his party "want to f*****g fight" while aiming at his Democratic colleagues for accommodating President Donald Trump, despite threats to target blue states in funding fights.

Meanwhile, Booker also accused senior Democrats of valuing bipartisanship over efforts to push back against the president's perceived overreaches.

Senate Democrats attack each other in dueling floor speeches

Cory Booker and two other Senate Democrats attacked each other in dueling floor speeches as the chamber debated passage of two bills that involved benefits for law enforcement.

Interestingly, the New Jersey Democrat's objection came after he said that the Office of Justice Programs was withholding funds for programs in so-called "sanctuary cities", like his hometown of Newark.

Booker was involved in a clash with senators Catherine Cortez Masto and Amy Klobuchar regarding an amendment that would have prevented the Department of Justice (DOJ) from blocking those funds.

Moreover, it would have likely endangered the unanimous consent process, which senators were dependent upon to pass the bill, considering it would likely trigger GOP opposition.

Furthermore, Booker slammed his fellow Democrats while talking to reporters and said they were "complicit" in the Trump administration’s attempts to bully blue states and districts into line.

He said, "Literally, they were about to be complicit in the very things they say out of the other side of their mouth that they object to. Democrats need to learn to fight and fight him and stop him from hurting people."

"There’s a lot of us in this caucus that want to f*****g fight. And what’s bothering me right now is we don’t see enough fight in this caucus," he added.

He also told The Independent, "Today, I saw people being complicit with something that is truly undermining the Constitution, the separation of powers and the kind of things that we should be standing up [against]."

However, he did not explain why he didn’t object to the bills' final passage when his amendment failed.

Meanwhile, Cortez Masto maintained her anti-Trump bona fides during a conversation with the outlet after the vote, and pointed to her work at the DSCC to flip the Senate into Democratic hands in 2020, when her party secured a narrow 50-50 majority.

She said that she was "proven" in "the fight against Donald Trump."

"I chaired the DSCC. We flipped the Senate [to] control of the Democrats and pushed back on Donald Trump," she said.

She also asked, "I am not opposed to taking on the challenges of Donald Trump and bad policies. I do it all the time. The question is, why aren't most Democrats supporting law enforcement?"

Senatores Catherine Cortez Masto and Amy Klobuchar hit back at Cory Booker’s accusations

Senators Catherine Cortez Masto and Amy Klobuchar shot back at Booker’s accusations and insinuated that he was making his position known in public on the floor, despite that he didn’t show up for Judiciary Committee markups on the bills and voted to pass the bills out of committee.

Cortez Masto said, "These bills passed unanimously out of the Judiciary Committee weeks ago. And my colleague from New Jersey...have respect for him...he's on the committee, he voted to pass these bills. He had an opportunity at that time to present this amendment, this is the first time we're ever hearing about it."

"This is ridiculous. This is an attempt to kill all of these bills. I don't know why. I don't know why, because, at the end of the day, all of these bills are about bipartisan support," she added.

Meanwhile, Klobuchar added, "One of the things I don't understand here, is that we have committees for a reason and we have hearings for a reason, and you can't do one thing on Police Week and not show up and not object and let these bills go through and then say another a few weeks later in a big speech on the floor."

Interestingly, Booker had attempted to add an amendment to the package which would "provide resources to law enforcement agencies with this important provision that safeguards these grants from politicization."

Cortez Masto dubbed it a "poison pill" saying, "I agree...President Trump's impoundment of funding, it is a serious concern. But tacking on a poison pill language to these bills won't guarantee any additional funding makes it to New Jersey, Nevada, or any other state. Instead, what it will do...it will keep critical bills from passing in the first place."

Cory Booker joins rally to reintroduce the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act

Senator Cory Booker joined civil rights and voting rights advocates at a rally to support the reintroduction of the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2025 on the same day as he tore into his Demorcrat colleagues. 

“That's where we stand here, in the shadow of heroes like John Lewis, for calling upon us to step into our light so that we too, can shine for generations to come,” Booker said, urging Congress to act on restoring critical voting protections.

Democratic Senators Raphael Warnock and Dick Durbin will lead the formal reintroduction of the Senate version of the legislation, which aims to replace the landmark 1965 Voting Rights Act.

A similar bill was proposed in 2024, designed to “strengthen our democracy by reestablishing preclearance for jurisdictions with a pattern of voting rights violations, protecting minority communities subject to discriminatory voting practices, and defending election workers from threats and intimidation.”