Why Cortez Masto Tangled With Cory Booker on the Senate Floor
So it was a surprise when Ms. Cortez Masto, a no-nonsense former attorney general and federal prosecutor who has won her swing state repeatedly, emerged this past week at the center of a dramatic showdown on the Senate floor with Senator Cory Booker, the progressive New Jersey Democrat with presidential ambitions.
The dispute started over a package of bipartisan policing bills that Ms. Cortez Masto was seeking to quickly pass. But the debate that unfolded instead was about how to be an effective Democrat during the second Trump presidency.
Mr. Booker accused Ms. Cortez Masto of being 'complicit' with an authoritarian president by trying to push through the policing bills at a time when the Justice Department was 'weaponizing' public safety grants against states and cities that 'resist the Trump policy agenda.'
Ms. Cortez Masto's retort: 'Two wrongs don't make a right.'
In an interview on Friday afternoon, Ms. Cortez Masto spoke about the altercation and why she thinks Democrats must try to find common ground with Republicans in a polarized era.
The interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.
What was it like to be called 'complicit' with President Trump by a fellow Democrat?
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