Cory Booker: “So, here, he writes about his nomination: When my nomination . . . came before the Senate Judiciary Committee, I was…”

“So, here, he writes about his nomination: When my nomination . . . came before the Senate Judiciary Committee, I was prepared to answer any questions about my qualifications, philosophy, or legal issues, [but] I received none. Instead, I was asked questions about Israel, whether I supported Hamas, and whether I celebrated the anniversary of 9/11. Even more revealing, however, was the tone. The underlying premise appeared to be that because I am Muslim, surely I support terrorism and celebrate 9/11. When I made clear that all these claims are false--that I condemn the Hamas attacks and all forms of terrorism, and indeed that it was my city--[my city]--that was attacked on 9/11--the next Republican Senators up just repeated their performative outrage. There were children in the audience. These attacks, nonetheless, continued endlessly for a simple reason. As Senator Whitehouse revealed on the Senate floor, this was an organized smear campaign fueled by dark money. But it did not end there. After Jewish groups came to my defense, these same attackers pivoted [their] focus to a new absurdity, claiming that I supported the killing of police officers--silently underpinned, in my view, by the notion that as a Muslim I surely support violence, including against law enforcement.…”