Cory Booker, the Democratic senator from New Jersey, who is running for president in 2020, doesn’t smoke or drink, and is a vegan. Not only has this healthy lifestyle likely made Booker look noticeably younger than his 49 years, but it also means Booker won’t have to go along with certain eating rituals — a cheesesteak in Philadelphia, corn dogs in Iowa — that are staples of the campaign trail.
Booker’s status as a non-drinker has also left him, it appears, with a minimal understanding of the make up of certain alcoholic beverages.
The senator, per Mediaite , appeared on a Buzzfeed talk show on Thursday and when asked what was in a margarita, he guessed that “there’s fruit, and there’s ice, and there is… vodka?” To that, the show’s hosts reacted incredulously, until Booker remembered that tequila is one of the ingredients. Booker joked that “this might lose some votes in my family, because they’re embarrassed.”
The original Mediaite article left out that aspect of Booker’s biography, but the campaign’s national communications director, Jeff Giertz, sent a statement to the website explaining the reason that the candidate “doesn’t know a Mojito from a Manhattan” is because “He doesn’t drink.”
Booker, who declared his candidacy for president in January, is a former mayor of Newark, who is in his second term as the junior senator from New Jersey. The senator, who, if elected, would become the second African-American president, has been rumored to be dating actress Rosario Dawson in recent months, as the two have been spotted around New York City and other places.
Cory Booker Thinks Margaritas Are Made With Vodka https://t.co/PBUVA9MZzZ pic.twitter.com/XELyrnzt0S
— Mediaite (@Mediaite) February 28, 2019
The candidate, who has never been married, was named to a “Top 40 Sexiest Bachelors” list by Town and Country magazine in 2013.
“He exercises, doesn’t drink, and is a vegetarian — in other words, he’s a walking New Year’s resolution,” the bio said of Booker.
Of course, Booker’s status as a nondrinker wouldn’t be unprecedented. For as much as the two men are different in ways large and small, the current president, Donald Trump, is also well-known to have a distaste for alcohol.
Booker is one of several Democrats who have already thrown their hats in the ring for the 2020 race, along with Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Sen. Bernie Sanders, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, Sen. Kamala Harris, Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, former HUD Secretary Julian Castro, and many others. Former Vice President Joseph Biden, former Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and former Rep. Beto O’Rourke are among candidates rumored to be considering runs.