Biden Stumbles Badly in Clash With Booker on Black Issues: Obama Made Me Veep Because of My Ties to Black Community

Sen. Cory Booker took down former Vice President Joe Biden in a devastating sequence during the fifth Democratic primary debate, snarking at the latter’s need for a “focus group” to hear from black voters, asking if Biden was “high” for opposing legalizing marijuana, and pointing out the existence of Sen. Kamala Harris when Biden said he has the support of the “only African-American woman senator.”

Booker was pulled in to a standing question about President Donald Trump’s border wall, but quickly pivoted to talking about the critical role of the African-American community in the Democratic Party. And though he didn’t mention Biden by name at the outset, it soon became clear that he was aiming his barbs at the current 2020 Democratic frontrunner.

“We need our policies that respect dignity, keep us safe and strong. I want to turn back to this issue of black voters. I have a lifetime of experience with black voters. I’ve been one since I was 18,” Booker joked. “Nobody on this stage should need a focus group to hear from African-American voters. Black voters are pissed off, and they’re worried. They’re pissed off because the only time our problems are paid attention to is when people are looking for a vote.”

“I have a lot of respect for the vice president. He has sworn me into my office and he’s a hero. This week I heard him literally say I don’t think we should legalize marijuana. I thought you might have been high when you said it.” Booker snarked, eliciting a big laugh. “And let me tell you because marijuana — marijuana in our country is already legal for privileged people. And it’s — the war on drugs has been a war on black and brown people.”

Biden countered by saying he wanted to decriminalize marijuana and free any convictions for marijuana possession and expunge their prison records. “But then Biden wandered into making several bizarre claims about his support from African-Americans.

“I’m part of that Obama coalition. I come out of a black community in terms of my support,” he claimed. “If you notice I have more people supporting me in the black community that have announced for me, because they know me, they know who I am. Three former chairs of the [Congressional] Black Caucus, the only African-American woman that had ever been elected to the Senate a whole range of people…”

At that last claim, Booker, in split screen, shot Biden a look of bewilderment, as Sen. Kamala Harris chimed in to remind the former vice president of her existence.

“No, that’s not true, the other one is here…” she pointed out to laughs, as Booker also added: “No, that’s not true, that’s not true.”

A stunned Biden took a beat and then falsely claimed: “I said the first, I said the first African-American woman!”

Meanwhile, Booker chuckled at Biden’s obvious mistake and Harris, laughing, just raised her hands in the classic, ‘whatever’ pose.

Biden followed up that gaffe by claiming that President Barack Obama — the first African American president in American history — chose him to be vice president in order to shore up his support among black voters.

“One of the reasons I was picked to be vice president was because of my relationship, long-standing relationship, with the black community,” Biden said.

Watch the video above, via MSNBC.