Cory Booker on viral Beto glare: 'I usually have a better poker face than that'
Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) is chalking up that viral debate glare to an unfortunately inadequate poker face — though he's apparently really been enjoying all of those memes.
A moment of Booker seeming to give former congressman Beto O'Rourke some serious side-eye when he began to speak in Spanish became a Twitter sensation during the first Democratic debate. In an interview on Thursday, the New Jersey senator joked about the glare seen around the world, with CNN's Erin Burnett wondering if it could be giving his fundraising numbers a boost.
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.
Booker also said he's been "cracking up all day" over the various memes friends of his have been showing him, his favorite apparently being one with a caption that read, "that moment when your father at a Taco Bell tries to order in Spanish." O'Rourke and Booker apparently commiserated about the glare after the debate, with Booker saying O'Rourke was "fun-loving" about the situation and joked about "some mistakes that he made" in his Spanish-speaking.
With the second round of debates set to begin soon, it remains to be seen whether another moment will take off in the same way Booker's did — but if so, he might have even more side-eye to offer to whomever steals his viral thunder. Brendan Morrow
-
Buddhist monks’ US walk for peaceUnder the Radar Crowds have turned out on the roads from California to Washington and ‘millions are finding hope in their journey’
-
American universities are losing ground to their foreign counterpartsThe Explainer While Harvard is still near the top, other colleges have slipped
-
How to navigate dating apps to find ‘the one’The Week Recommends Put an end to endless swiping and make real romantic connections
-
Judge rejects California’s ICE mask ban, OKs ID lawSpeed Read Federal law enforcement agents can wear masks but must display clear identification
-
Lawmakers say Epstein files implicate 6 more menSpeed Read The Trump department apparently blacked out the names of several people who should have been identified
-
Japan’s Takaichi cements power with snap election winSpeed Read President Donald Trump congratulated the conservative prime minister
-
Trump sues IRS for $10B over tax record leaksSpeed Read The president is claiming ‘reputational and financial harm’ from leaks of his tax information between 2018 and 2020
-
Trump, Senate Democrats reach DHS funding dealSpeed Read The deal will fund most of the government through September and the Department of Homeland Security for two weeks
-
Fed holds rates steady, bucking Trump pressureSpeed Read The Federal Reserve voted to keep its benchmark interest rate unchanged
-
Judge slams ICE violations amid growing backlashSpeed Read ‘ICE is not a law unto itself,’ said a federal judge after the agency violated at least 96 court orders
-
Rep. Ilhan Omar attacked with unknown liquidSpeed Read This ‘small agitator isn’t going to intimidate me from doing my work’
