WASHINGTON — Cory Booker admits there’s a limit to his call for civility in politics.

On NBC’s “Late Night,” the 2020 Democratic presidential hopeful admitted to host Seth Meyer that sometimes he wants to punch President Donald Trump in the face.

“My testosterone makes me want to feel like punching him, which would be bad for this elderly out-of-shape man that he is,” Booker said.

Not that he would do it.

Booker said a former tight end at Stanford University, where he played college football, came up to him recently at an Iowa event and said, “Dude, I want you to punch Donald Trump in the face.” Booker said he responded, “Dude, that’s a felony, man."

The senator said the worst thing the Democrats could do was give into that desire.

“You don’t beat a bully like him fighting him on his tactics, on his terms, using his turf,” Booker said. “He’s the body shamer. He’s the guy who tries to drag people in the gutter.”

After all, Booker said, civil rights activists didn’t beat back segregationist Bull Connor in Birmingham, Alabama, with bigger dogs and more powerful fire hoses.

“Don’t mistake strength, to be strong you need to be mean,” Booker said. “We will not beat Donald Trump by being more like him but by being showing we’re not like him. We are not weak morally. We are not weak mentally. We are a strong nation and we’re a nation that unites."

After the constant moral vandalism we’ve seen from this administration, we need a leader who's going to call us to be the best of who we are. We will not beat Donald Trump by trying to be more like him, but by showing that we are not like him. pic.twitter.com/ZIQ11qNHbj — Cory Booker (@CoryBooker) July 23, 2019

Jonathan D. Salant may be reached at jsalant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JDSalant or on Facebook. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.

Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips.

Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.com’s newsletters.