Twitter follies: Cory Booker is no Anthony Weiner
The New Jersey Democrat shared some Twitter love with a Portland stripper, but it's much chaster than it sounds
On Wednesday, we learned that New Jersey's Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, Cory Booker, exchanges private Twitter messages with strippers. Or at least one stripper, Lynsie Lee of Portland, Ore. If the messages are private, how do we know that? Lee told us, on Twitter, back in March:
BuzzFeed's Benny Johnson uncovered that little nugget, and walked us through what prompted Lee to post the information. Warning: Johnson's very BuzzFeed-y post features NSFW photos of Lee. For a clean version of the story, try Joe Coscarelli's at New York, or the writeup in Lee's hometown newspaper, The Oregonian.
Or any other news sources that picked up on the story. Michael Barbaro at The New York Times makes the obvious comparison to another Twitter-obsessed politician:
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
There are some valid grounds for this comparison. Weiner and Booker are both young Democrats who used Twitter very often and very effectively while in public office. Both have exchanged private messages with young women prone to taking their clothes off, and, in both cases, we know this because the women revealed the correspondence. Here's National Republican Senatorial Committee strategist Brad Dayspring:
But the comparisons between Weiner and Booker really stop there.
Weiner sent sexually explicit text messages to women, after resigning from Congress for tweeting photos of his crotch to women. His post-Congress exchanges with Sydney Leathers did a lot to sink his once-promising bid to be New York City's next mayor. Leathers returned the favor by making a sex tape and crashing Weiner's election-night party. Weiner's public response to these revelations was nothing short of disastrous.
Booker, on the other hand, sent Lee a message that "could be out of a Victorian courtship primer," as Mediate's Tommy Christopher puts it. If there's more than that one message, we don't know about it and Lee isn't saying. She does give this context to BuzzFeed, however: Booker "was just flattering me. It began with me sending an actual tweet saying that the West Coast loved him, especially me. So he replied with that just to flatter me :)"
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Slate's David Weigel:
Here's the rest of the story, such as it is: Booker and Lee apparently connected because they are both in the same Twitter-themed movie, Follow Friday: The Film — along with BuzzFeed editor Ben Smith. Booker is comfortably ahead of his Republican opponent, Steve Lonegan, in the polls, and Lonegan — who has previously questioned Booker's manliness — has no comment on this story. And to understand Booker's pitch-perfect response, you have to know that Lee works at a strip club called Casa Diablo, which bills itself as the world's first vegan strip club.
Here's the statement from Booker spokesman Kevin Griffis:
And here's Booker's response, via (naturally) Twitter:
There are some winners in the story: Casa Diablo and Erin Faulk's Twitter movie, certainly, and probably Lee, who told her (newly expanded) Twitter following that she doesn't "want 15min of fame, not this way. I want it through my nudes duh." BuzzFeed got something of a scoop, and probably earned a lot of traffic for it.
But I'm not sure there are any losers. Booker's Senate race is tightening, but mildly flirtatious banter with a topless dancer who lives 3,000 miles away isn't going to sink him. And Lonegan may pick up some support among voters who hate strippers or vegans, but at this point anything (non-scandalous) that keeps the attention focused on Booker and his social-media prowess probably hurts Lonegan more than it helps.
Booker and Lonegan face off in a special election October 16.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
Government shutdown looming? Blame the border
Talking Points Democrats and Republicans say funding for immigration enforcement is the budget battle's latest sticking point. That's about all they agree on.
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
'Conservatives have not limited their attack on reproductive rights to the US'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published
-
Housing costs: the root of US economic malaise?
speed read Many voters are troubled by the housing affordability crisis
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
The debate about Biden's age and mental fitness
In Depth Some critics argue Biden is too old to run again. Does the argument have merit?
By Grayson Quay Published
-
How would a second Trump presidency affect Britain?
Today's Big Question Re-election of Republican frontrunner could threaten UK security, warns former head of secret service
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
'Rwanda plan is less a deterrent and more a bluff'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By The Week UK Published
-
Henry Kissinger dies aged 100: a complicated legacy?
Talking Point Top US diplomat and Nobel Peace Prize winner remembered as both foreign policy genius and war criminal
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Last updated
-
Trump’s rhetoric: a shift to 'straight-up Nazi talk'
Why everyone's talking about Would-be president's sinister language is backed by an incendiary policy agenda, say commentators
By The Week UK Published
-
More covfefe: is the world ready for a second Donald Trump presidency?
Today's Big Question Republican's re-election would be a 'nightmare' scenario for Europe, Ukraine and the West
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
Xi-Biden meeting: what's in it for both leaders?
Today's Big Question Two superpowers seek to stabilise relations amid global turmoil but core issues of security, trade and Taiwan remain
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Will North Korea take advantage of Israel-Hamas conflict?
Today's Big Question Pyongyang's ties with Russia are 'growing and dangerous' amid reports it sent weapons to Gaza
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published