In a blistering indictment of Senator Cory Booker’s political grandstanding and betrayal, progressive firebrand Lisa McCormick has publicly eviscerated the New Jersey Democrat for what she calls an “abject surrender” and a “staggering display of political cowardice” after he voted to fund the government under President Donald Trump.
McCormick’s attack, issued in a fiery statement Tuesday, zeroes in on the glaring chasm between Booker’s fiery rhetoric and his ultimate action to advance a short-term spending measure that would prevent a government shutdown.
Just days before the vote, Booker was a ubiquitous presence on national media and in press releases, drawing “red lines” and vowing, “I will not give away my vote to Trump to fund the government for nothing,” as Republicans faced a September 30 deadline to avert a government shutdown.
From “Spartan Stand” to Sudden Capitulation
For weeks, Booker cultivated an image of an unyielding progressive warrior.
He hosted roundtables with struggling families in Newark, decried the “five-alarm fire” in public education, and promised to “stand and fight” against any budget that harmed New Jerseyans. On NBC’s Meet the Press, he framed the spending battle in moral terms, declaring Trump “reckless” and vowing not to support a budget that “hurts Americans.”
“This is a time to draw lines and to stand and fight,” Booker proclaimed as recently as September 16. “So I’m telling folks, this is a crossroads. I’m standing and fighting.”
“Trump and Republicans have taken another step to advance a short-term government funding bill without any input from Democrats that fails to address Americans’ most urgent concerns,” said Booker in a statement issued September 16, 2025. “As I have said, I will not give away my vote to Trump to fund the government for nothing.”
But when faced with the actual crossroads, McCormick accuses Booker of laying down his arms. His vote for the Continuing Resolution (CR) to keep the government open, she argues, was a vote to fund the very “suffering” he claimed to oppose.
“Senator Booker spent weeks posturing as a progressive Spartacus, ready to hold the line against Trump’s tyranny,” said McCormick. “But when the moment of truth arrived, he transformed into a paper tiger, his roar fading into a whimper. His vote wasn’t a compromise; it was a total, unconditional surrender. He gave his vote to Trump for absolutely nothing.”
McCormick: “A Betrayal of the Highest Order”
McCormick, a longtime critic of the Democratic establishment, is framing Booker’s vote as part of a broader pattern of capitulation that began when Senate Democrats, under Chuck Schumer, first bailed out the Trump Republican agenda earlier this year.
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer’s capitulation in March ignited a Democratic revolt, prompting progressives to demand his resignation, so grandstanding Senator Cory Booker staged a feckless and fruitless filibuster that merely distracted from this betrayal.
“This is a betrayal of the highest order,” said McCormick. “While families in Newark are choosing between groceries and school supplies, Cory Booker had the leverage to fight for them. He could have demanded the reversal of devastating cuts to SNAP and Medicaid. He could have stood against the illegal dismantling of our federal agencies. Instead, he provided the votes for a government that is actively making those families poorer and sicker.”
She directly connected Booker’s vote to the consequences of prior Democratic surrenders, which she claims enabled the passage of the ‘One Big Beautiful Bill’ that slashed social programs and cemented tax cuts for the wealthy.
“Without Schumer’s capitulation, Republicans would have never been able to muster support for their devastating ‘One Big Beautiful Bill,’ which raised the debt ceiling by $5 trillion, made reckless tax cuts permanent, reduced Medicaid spending by 12 percent and SNAP benefits, adding $150 billion in new military spending plus another $150 billion for deportations. Republicans would have probably also been unable to pass the subsequent Rescissions Act of 2025, which canceled $9.4 billion in previously appropriated federal funds, or the Genius Act, which set weaker regulations for cryptocurrency,” said McCormick.
“Booker’s feckless filibuster last time was a distraction from Schumer’s betrayal. This time, his vote is the betrayal,” McCormick charged. “He has chosen to be a ‘responsible adult’ in a room full of arsonists, effectively handing them more gasoline. This is not leadership; it is complicity.”
Booker’s Defense Falls on Deaf Ears
In his press release explaining his vote, Booker claimed he acted to “protect New Jerseyans’ health care” and avoid a shutdown, blaming Republicans for partisan brinksmanship.
But for McCormick and her progressive allies, that justification is hollow.
“What health care is he protecting?” McCormick asked pointedly. “The same system from which 13 million Americans are being purged? He voted to fund the architects of that misery. This is the political equivalent of saying you’re against arson while voting to fund the fire department that’s currently pouring kerosene on your constituents’ homes.”
The scathing critique places Booker in an increasingly difficult position, caught between an energized progressive base that demands unwavering resistance and the political pragmatism of a narrowly divided Senate. For McCormick, the calculation is simple.
“The Democratic Party must choose: will it stand with the working class, or will it continue to enable the billionaire class with these last-minute capitulations?” said McCormick. “Cory Booker made his choice clear. And the people of New Jersey must not forget it.”
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