Former Vice President Joe Biden released a new criminal justice plan on Tuesday, and it didn't take long for the 2020 subtweets to follow.
Biden has faced criticism over his role in writing the 1994 crime bill, including from fellow 2020 Democrat Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), who has called the law "shameful" while Biden has argued it did not lead to mass incarceration. On Tuesday, Biden released a new criminal justice plan, with his campaign saying that "we can and must reduce the number of people incarcerated in this country while also reducing crime." The plan's proposals include eliminating mandatory minimums, ending cash bail, and ending the disparity between crack and powder cocaine sentencing, CNN reports.
But Booker, clearly, isn't satisfied, sending out a tweet that doesn't mention Biden's name directly but obviously calls him out by saying that "it's not enough to tell us what you're going to do," telling Biden to "show us what you've done for the last 40 years," a number that just happens to line up with the approximate length of Biden's political career; he began serving in the Senate in 1973. Booker also hits Biden by writing that he "created" the system that he plans to "dismantle."
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.
Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) surged in the polls after going after Biden during the first Democratic debate, and this tweet would appear to suggest Booker has a similar strategy in mind for the second round of debates next week. Though Booker didn't share the debate stage with Biden last month, he will this time — and as Bloomberg's Jennifer Epstein points out, it just so happens that two of Biden's fiercest critics in the field, Booker and Harris, will be on either side of him.
-
Testosterone therapy in women highlights the lack of women’s health researchThe explainer There is no FDA-approved testosterone product for women
-
Magazine solutions - November 7, 2025Puzzles and Quizzes Issue - November 7, 2025
-
Magazine printables - November 7, 2025Puzzles and Quizzes Issue - November 7, 2025
-
Senate votes to kill Trump’s Brazil tariffSpeed Read Five Senate Republicans joined the Democrats in rebuking Trump’s import tax
-
Border Patrol gets scrutiny in court, gains power in ICESpeed Read Half of the new ICE directors are reportedly from DHS’s more aggressive Customs and Border Protection branch
-
Shutdown stalemate nears key pain pointsSpeed Read A federal employee union called for the Democrats to to stand down four weeks into the government standoff
-
Trump vows new tariffs on Canada over Reagan adspeed read The ad that offended the president has Ronald Reagan explaining why import taxes hurt the economy
-
NY attorney general asks public for ICE raid footageSpeed Read Rep. Dan Goldman claims ICE wrongly detained four US citizens in the Canal Street raid and held them for a whole day without charges
-
Trump’s huge ballroom to replace razed East WingSpeed Read The White House’s east wing is being torn down amid ballroom construction
-
Trump expands boat strikes to Pacific, killing 5 moreSpeed Read The US military destroyed two more alleged drug smuggling boats in international waters
-
Trump demands millions from his administrationSpeed Read The president has requested $230 million in compensation from the Justice Department for previous federal investigations
