In a stunning multi-part exchange, Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) absolutely torched former Vice President Joe Biden on several different topics – including, notably, criminal justice.

In a tense skirmish early which took place over two segments in Wednesday night’s presidential debate, the New Jersey senator called out Biden for being involved with a great deal of criminal justice legislation for the past four decades that has “lock[ed] people up, not lift[ed] them up.”

“If you want to compare records and I’m shocked that you do, I am happy to do that,” Booker said in a brutal jab. “Because all the problems that he is talking about that he created, I actually led the bill that got passed into law that reverses the damages that your bills that you were bragging calling it the Biden crime bill up until 2015.”

Biden defended his work as reflecting the consensus view at the time, then ripped Booker for policies he enacted as mayor of Newark.

“The bills that the … senator is talking about, are bills that were passed years ago and passed overwhelmingly,” Biden said. “Since 2007, I, for example, tried to get the crack powder cocaine disparity eliminated. In 2007, you became mayor, and you had a police department that you went out and hired Rudy Giuliani’s guy and you engaged in stop and frisk. You had 75 percent of those stops reviewed as illegal, the Justice Department came after you for saying you were engaging in behavior that was inappropriate, and then in fact nothing happened. The entire time you were mayor.”

Booker fired back: “There’s a saying in my community that you’re dipping into the kool-aid and you don’t even know the flavor. You need to come to the city and see the reforms we put in place. The head of the ACLU said that I embraced reform not just in action but in deeds. You are trying to shift the view from what you created. There are people right now in prison for life, for drug offenses because you stood up and used that tough on crime phony rhetoric that got a lot of people elected but destroyed communities like mind. This isn’t about the past. This is about the present, right now.”

In the previous segment, Booker called out a comment from Biden when he said that immigrants with a PhD can “come right in,” and did so by making reference to a profane comment from President Donald Trump.

“That’s playing into what the Republicans want,” Booker said. “To pit some immigrants against [others] … from shithole countries. We need to be the country that says everyone has worth and dignity and this should be a country that honors everyone. Don’t let the Republicans divide this party against itself.”

Watch above, via CNN.

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