Politics

Lautenberg says Cory Booker needs a spanking

Patrick Howley Political Reporter
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New Jersey Democratic Sen. Frank Lautenberg told a reporter that Newark Mayor Cory Booker, who has announced that he plans to run for Lautenberg’s U.S. Senate seat in 2014, needs a “spanking,” because he is “disrespectful.”

Lautenberg aides previously told Politico that Booker, a rising star in the Democratic Party, is “disrespectful” for openly seeking Lautenberg’s seat prior to the 88-year-old senator officially announcing his retirement — which still has not occurred.

“I have four children. I love each one of them. I can’t tell [you] that one of them wasn’t occasionally disrespectful, so I gave them a spanking and everything was OK,” Lautenberg said, after an Inquirer reporter questioned him about his aides’ comments Tuesday.

Lautenberg will turn 89 years old Wednesday. Booker is 43.

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