Democratic Sens. Cory Booker of New Jersey and Kamala Harris of California are using Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearings to vie for the spotlight before the 2020 presidential election, according to CNN political director David Chalian.
Booker and Harris are both considering running for the Democratic nomination in 2020. They also serve together on the Senate Judiciary Committee, which questioned Kavanaugh on Wednesday and Thursday. The two made several dramatic statements, with Booker threatening to release documents marked "committee confidential," and declaring "this is about the closest I’ll ever come in my life to an ‘I am Spartacus’ moment."
"This is about showing a fight," Chalian said on CNN’s "Newsroom" on Thursday. "That’s what the Democratic base is demanding. I think you are now seeing the two people that are the most talked about likely 2020 presidential contenders on the Democratic side of this panel are Cory Booker and Kamala Harris."
"Kamala Harris in questioning Kavanaugh late last night had a moment that went viral. She got a lot of attention for it in the overnight hours about questioning him about any comments he had with a lawyer or a member of a law firm about the Mueller investigation, indicating she knows there’s something there. Her potential 2020 rival, Cory Booker, who sits next to her on the panel, comes out swinging this morning saying, ‘I’m breaking Senate rules. This is my only chance to have a Spartacus moment. I’m willing to get kicked out of the Senate over this.’ So I think you also have some one-upmanship going on among the Democrats as well."
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