Cory Booker tried to clown Joe Biden, but he ended up wearing the red nose.
Biden pressed the New Jersey senator about his stop-and-frisk policy, and Booker tried to use a Black proverb as a response. To say he failed miserably is an understatement.
“There’s a saying in my community that you’re dipping into the Kool-Aid and you don’t even know the flavor,” a smug Booker said.
He didn’t just misspeak, dude enunciated so hard Carlton Banks would have cringed. It was so bad, CNN actually put effort into scrounging up an all-Black panel to discuss the moment. Panelists April Ryan, Angela Rye, Bakari Sellers and Andrew Gillum couldn’t contain their amusement.
Cory Booker’s “Kool-Aid” moment – was it delivered right? @AprilDRyan
@Bakari_Sellers
@Angela_Rye and @AndrewGillum have some fun dissecting the zinger. “With black phrases you don’t enunciate every word,” says Sellers. “He was too pedigreed with it,” adds Ryan. #DemDebate
pic.twitter.com/SQze6Qd99T— New Day (@NewDay) August 1, 2019
Ryan was laughing before CNN rolled the clip. Rye believes Booker was doing a mental Birdman hand rub while waiting for the right moment to use the quote.
“Senator Booker, you know I love you, man, but I could just see you going, ‘Oh, here comes my time, here comes the Kool-Aid!'” Rye said.
“But with Black phrases, you don’t enunciate, like, every word,” Sellers added.
“He was too pedigreed with it,” Ryan concluded.
Gillum threw up a verbal church finger.
“Let the record also show I didn’t participate in any part of this,” Gillum said.
Sellers cut Booker some slack and noted the comment endeared him to the rest of his constituents.
“There were a lot of people watching that, a lot of Black folk who were like, no, but to a lot of Democratic viewers, it was an endearing moment for Cory,” he said. “Cory had a good night last night.”
Social media was also set ablaze by the faux pas.
i've been saying Cory Booker has big youth pastor energy since 2016 and I feel like, after the Kool-aid line, I rest my case https://t.co/LjJbx163YK
— Steadman™ (@AsteadWesley) August 1, 2019
Me, when Booker made that kool-aid comment. #DemDebate
pic.twitter.com/O5fmBOuHeV— Angel Evangelista’s Bitch (@call_me_renny) August 1, 2019
booker's kool-aid joke is the most hood nigga thing he's done in his life.
he's gonna be so pleased with himself lol
— nylah burton (@yumcoconutmilk) August 1, 2019
In true Twitter fashion, people started guessing how Booker would screw up other AAVE sayings.
Save the drama for your mother
— ChemCOCO (@dani_que) August 1, 2019
“I’m as cool as the alternative side of my pillow”
— Ins⎊mniBlack. (@imani_exe) August 1, 2019
I am all of that, with a bag of potato chips
— ThisIsMe (@bitchy_antics) August 1, 2019
The only things I have to do are stay African American and expire.
— Trill Withers (@OldNeoSoul) August 1, 2019
“If it is not broken…you most certainly do not have to fix it.”
— Fred VanFlee (@LenwoodSmith_) August 1, 2019
‘What would have happened was…’ ????
— Latifa Jackson (@latifajackson) August 1, 2019
Even Kool-Aid cracked a joke.
#Ahem
@SenBooker OH YEAH #WeKnowTheFlavor
#DemDebate
pic.twitter.com/Xaq1bbFifB— Kool-Aid (@koolaid) August 1, 2019
Oh well, maybe Booker can sip his Kool-Aid with his friend T-Bone.
