2020 Democrat Cory Booker issued a rare rebuke to Joe Biden's comments on segregationists

Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) doesn't usually criticize other 2020 candidates. He made an exception for Joe Biden.

At a Tuesday fundraiser, the former vice president mentioned how, during his Senate stint in the 1970s, he preserved "civility" with then-senators James Eastland and Herman Talmadge. Biden didn't mention that the two Democrats were segregationists, but lauded how he never considered them "the enemy" and still "got things done."

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio was the first to call out Biden, tweeting out a picture of his multiracial family and what Eastland would've thought of them.

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Booker replied next with a statement, saying he was disappointed Biden "hasn't issued an immediate apology" for his words.

Booker is one of just three black candidates in the 24-person Democratic field, running alongside Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) and Miramar, Florida Mayor Wayne Messam. Biden hasn't yet responded to his fellow candidates' criticisms.