Cory Booker calls Supreme Court ‘profoundly hypocritical’ after voting rights ruling: Full interview

[0:00] Welcome back and joining me now is Democratic Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey. [0:04] Senator Booker, welcome back to Meet the Press. [0:06] It's really good to be here in studio. Thank you. [0:08] Thank you so much for being here in person. We really appreciate it. [0:11] Let's start with Iran. I wonder, for the sake of bringing these hostilities to an end, [0:18] would you support a short-term deal with Iran that leaves the broader issue of [0:24] Iran's nuclear program to be solved in later negotiations? [0:28] So remember, the Strait of Hormuz was not closed at the beginning of this conflict. [0:32] This conflict has been a massive disaster. And Donald Trump himself is an embarrassment on [0:37] the world stage. I hear it from allies all around the world. He has got us into a trap, [0:43] and we're effectively in a stalemate with Iran. And the people that are paying the price, [0:48] it was American military, hundreds injured, 14 lives lost. And the American people, [0:53] collectively, were spending billions of dollars more in the price spikes that we've seen as [0:58] the result of this. This president has no way out. This is going to go on for months. [1:03] And that pain is going to continue to be felt by people he promised to lower prices for and keep [1:08] us out of foreign entanglements. If that way out included a short-term deal that punted dealing [1:13] with the nuclear program, is that something you would back? Well, remember, I've been leading in [1:17] the Senate with a handful of my other colleagues to end this conflict. That's what we're demanding. [1:21] I am sorry that the United States Senate, Republicans who are leading that, have done nothing [1:26] truly to hold President Trump accountable, to provide sufficient oversight or any checks [1:32] and balances. My work is to end this conflict. And again, unfortunately, Donald Trump has made [1:38] us less safe. He has created more chaos in that region. He has given more long-term strength and [1:44] leverage to Iran, a more radical regime. There's still fissile material, highly enriched, [1:49] that was not there at the beginning of his first term. He has dug us deeper and deeper into a [1:54] quagmire hold. And he is a danger. As many of his first-term national security advisors said to us, [2:00] he would be a danger to national security. Sadly, that's playing out. [2:04] I do want to talk about the Senate. The U.S., of course, is partnering with Israel with this war. [2:09] You joined a record number of Democrats, 40 senators, who recently voted against sending more arms to [2:17] Israel. A similar effort a year ago only got 15 Democratic votes, for example. Are you now opposed [2:24] to the U.S. sending arms to Israel going forward? Let's be clear. I'm opposed to a reckless war that has [2:31] made the United States and Israel less safe, as well as our other Arab allies. I will not support arms to [2:36] the United States or any of our allies, including Israel, in the context of a war that is endangering [2:42] our national security and Israel's. I continue to support our U.S. military being the strongest [2:48] in the world. I continue to support Israel having a qualitative military edge, the ability to defend [2:54] themselves and offer deterrence. But in the context of this war, I will not support more military [3:01] armaments to conduct what I think is a disaster that's endangering American lives, Israeli lives, [3:07] and as we see in the UAE and Saudi Arabia, our regional allies as well. So just to be very clear, [3:12] you would vote to approve arms sales for Israel in a future entanglement if you thought that was [3:18] necessary. Again, we have a longstanding commitment to Israel having a qualitative military edge. [3:23] I will continue to support that. I will not support this kind of war. And we have a nation now that's [3:30] looking at our disastrous president, a disastrous leader of Israel, who in this war are hurting our [3:37] nation, their nation, and that region. I cannot support this war effort. Let's turn to the battle [3:43] over redistricting. One of the big headlines this week, a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling placed new [3:49] limits on the Voting Rights Act, as you know, which has prompted states across the South to start [3:55] redrawing their maps. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito wrote in the majority opinion, I'm going to [4:01] read some of what he said and get your reaction, quote, allowing race to play any part in government [4:07] decision making represents a departure from the constitutional rule that applies in almost every [4:13] other context. Do you think race should be used as a factor to draw congressional lines? [4:19] So first of all, this court is profoundly hypocritical. They said we can do, you can use race [4:25] and immigration stops. So this is not about race. This is about stripping political power from millions [4:32] of people. And obviously this decision would result, and they knew this, in stripping political power and [4:39] representation from African Americans. The Voting Rights Act was perhaps one of the most important [4:45] acts in the history of our country in securing our democratic ideals. All are created equal. All are [4:52] imbued with certain unalienable rights. And what they have done right now is sent us backwards in [4:58] time, back to the 1870s and 1880s, where the South and Southern legislators, through terrorism, [5:06] intimidation, and worse, were able to stop African Americans from having representation [5:10] in Congress. This is wrong. It's as wrong as Plessy versus Ferguson. It's as wrong as Korematsu. [5:17] And I'm telling you right now, this will go down in its history as one of the most wrongheaded [5:21] decisions the Supreme Court has ever made and effectively undercut our democracy. [5:26] I wonder what you make of some of the messaging we've heard. House Democratic [5:29] Leader Hakeem Jeffries had very strong words for the Supreme Court, calling it, quote, [5:34] illegitimate and accusing the court of trying to suppress the vote and rig the midterm elections and [5:41] beyond. Do you agree that the Supreme Court is illegitimate and actually trying to rig U.S. [5:47] elections? Or do you think that language goes too far? I think the Supreme Court is wrong. I think [5:52] they've been making decisions to strip rights from Americans, whether it's stripping rights for [5:57] reproductive rights from Americans, whether it's stripping voting rights for Americans. This court is [6:02] setting us back. And we have to understand that this is one of those moments where what the Supreme [6:08] Court is doing is making a decision. But the people have the last word. This is not the end of this [6:13] story. We have seen setbacks before. The question is, is this the time for people to understand that [6:19] this is not left or right? It is right or wrong. Is it going to spark another movement? And so most [6:24] important right now is people to understand we are not helpless. Six people cannot determine 300 plus [6:30] million. We have to fight. We have to mobilize and organize. Well, you take me to my next question [6:36] because this decision has revived the debate within the Democratic Party about potentially adding more [6:42] seats to the Supreme Court. Would you, Senator, support an effort to add more seats to the Supreme [6:48] Court to expand the court? Well, remember, there's a corrupt shadow hanging over the Supreme Court. [6:53] Some of these same members that are voting on decisions like this are accepting gifts [6:56] from billionaires. We have RVs, lavish vacations. It's a corrupt court. The highest court in our land [7:02] has the lowest ethics laws. Number two is that the Supreme Court clearly within our power, [7:09] I lead one of these pieces of legislation with Senator Whitehouse and others to give term limits [7:14] to Supreme Court members. That could go a long way in carrying this. The Supreme Court desperately [7:18] needs reform. It is a corrupt court. And in my opinion, it is a court that needs reform. And I will [7:24] continue to lead on those things. Do you support, though, adding additional seats? Is that something you [7:31] would back? Again, I want this court reformed from its ethics to having people stay on there [7:38] well into their 80s or 90s is very problematic. There are ways we can reform this court. [7:44] But as a precursor to that, it means changing Congress because this Congress, even when the [7:50] Supreme Court said in Rucho versus Common Cause that partisan gerrymandering was anti-democratic, [7:56] the vote in the Senate and the House was along party lines. Republicans supporting partisan [8:01] gerrymandering and every Democrat saying we should end this. If we want change to what the Supreme Court [8:07] is doing, we have to change Congress. I want to ask you big picture, Senator, [8:12] the implications of this for the midterms. Do you believe that Democrats have lost their advantage [8:19] heading into the midterms? Again, I know this is seen through a political lens, but there are many [8:25] of us. I was just down in Birmingham. This goes a lot deeper than partisan politics. This is Mother's [8:32] Day. And that word mother is an honorific in the black community, often given to great women of [8:38] stature. The mothers of the movement, people like Fannie Lou Hamer, beat nearly to death in a Mississippi [8:45] prison for voting rights. Amelia Boynton, beaten on the Edmund Pettus Bridge, marching for voting rights. [8:52] Ella Baker, Septima Clark. These are extraordinary women who today the Supreme Court has dishonored [8:59] their legacy and their sacrifices. On this Mother's Day, when so many people are hurting, [9:04] let us refocus on the urgency. This is not left or right. This is a moment where what will we stand [9:10] for in America? Ultimately, this nation stands for fairness at the polls, representation. We're [9:16] a representative government. And most importantly, making sure our democracy in its very most important [9:23] act of voting is secured. But just very quickly before I move to my last question, are you confident [9:28] that Democrats can take back the House? I am Democrat confident that the people of America [9:34] can take back the House. There are so many dissatisfied Trump. But can Democrats win the House? [9:38] Yes, absolutely. And it means appealing to all of America. I think there's 75, 80 percent of [9:44] Americans that just don't agree with this president, raising their prices, involving us in disastrous [9:50] wars. This is a chance for America to reject a president that is making their lives more difficult [9:56] and betraying the people. We need to take back the House and the Senate and begin to hold him [10:00] accountable and begin to restore the pillars of our democracy. Before I let you go, Senator, [10:04] NBC News is reporting that former Vice President Kamala Harris has been telling donors she believes [10:11] the Democratic National Committee should release its autopsy of her failed 2024 campaign, something [10:18] the DNC chair had initially promised to do, seems to have walked that back. Do you think the DNC [10:24] should release that autopsy? Yeah, release the autopsy. But we're six months before an election. [10:29] If there's not enough reason to vote, the president's stripping away our health care for millions of [10:34] Americans, seeing rural hospitals close. If there's not enough reason to vote, your price is skyrocketing, [10:39] interest rates up. If there's not enough reason to vote, prioritizing ballrooms over people's [10:44] child care and health care. This is six months before an election. We need to be mobilizing and [10:50] organizing in this election. Fine, DNC release it. They should do that. But the most important thing is [10:55] for people to get out and vote in record numbers. As you have heard, former Vice President Harris has [11:01] said she's thinking about running again in 2028. Do you think that Vice President Harris is the [11:05] strongest person to represent Democrats in 2028? I think that it was a disservice to Kamala Harris that [11:10] we did not have a primary in the last election. I hope we have the most robust 28 primary there is [11:16] with a lot of great leaders involved in that primary so that the Democratic Party can choose who's going to [11:21] be their standard bearer. Senator Cory Booker, thank you so much for being here, weighing in on a lot [11:27] of topics this morning. Really appreciate it. Thank you very much.