The worst kept secret right about now in Washington is that Democratic Senator from New Jersey Cory Booker is already beginning his 2020 campaign — or so many allege — by targeting the confirmation hearings of the incoming Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

Booker, who just so happened to find himself in New Hampshire recently, openly challenged Sessions Wednesday in a splashy display, asserting, “In a choice between standing with Senate norms and standing up for what my conscience tells me is best for our country, I will always choose conscience and country.” It marks the first time in history that a sitting Senator is openly testifying against one of his Senate colleagues; flanked by the Congressional Black Caucus, Booker called out Sessions’ record on social inequality and voting rights. He continued at one point by uttering a line that should be said at all confirmation hearings in my opinion: “The arc of the moral universe does not just naturally curve towards justice. We must bend it.”

But despite the flowery poetry, MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough called it for what it is Thursday: “Calculating.”

“Has anybody seen anything as calculated, as obviously calculated as this?” he asked his morning panel, expressing disbelief that the Garden State pol would angle in such a way.

Mike Barnicle quipped, “Wrong venue, wrong time.”

Scarborough alleged that the feeling of Booker being opportunistic was shared by many over in the Beltway on Wednesday who watched the 47-year-old former Newark mayor attacks Sessions’ record. “There was a collective groan that went up during that. Very calculated and a lot of senators irked, especially on the Democratic side.”

Watch above via MSNBC.

—

[image via screengrab]

Have a tip we should know? [email protected]