Cory Booker joked that he was relieved to have finally been the target of a Donald Trump attack after seeing so many of his Senate colleagues come under fire from the Manhattan billionaire. Booker responds to Trump: 'I love you'

Sen. Cory Booker has a message for Donald Trump: “I love you, I just don’t want you to be my president.”

The New Jersey senator delivered an energetic, well-received speech Monday on the opening night of the Democratic National Convention, praising Hillary Clinton, slamming Trump and painting an optimistic picture of America. Trump fired back on Twitter, writing enigmatically, “If Cory Booker is the future of the Democratic Party, they have no future! I know more about Cory than he knows about himself.”


Shown the tweet during an interview Tuesday on CNN’s “New Day,” Booker declined to respond in kind and instead offered a somewhat backhanded olive branch to the GOP nominee.

“Let me tell you right now: I love Donald Trump,” Booker said. “I don't want to answer his hate with hate. I’m going to answer it with love. I’m not going to answer his darkness with darkness. I love him. I know his kids, I know his family. They're good, the children especially, good people.”

Booker joked that he was relieved to have finally been the target of a Trump attack after seeing so many of his Senate colleagues, John McCain and Elizabeth Warren among them, come under fire from the Manhattan billionaire.

The New Jersey senator said he had no idea what sort of dirt, if any, Trump might have on him. Instead, Booker suggested that Trump had already accomplished his goal simply by ginning up speculation that there might be some shoe ready to drop on the rising Democratic star.

“I love you, Donald. I pray for you. I hope that you find some kindness in your heart, that you’re not going to be somebody that spews out insults to your political opposition, that you’re going to start finding some ways to love,” Booker said. “I’m going to elevate him. I love you, I just don't want you to be my president. I don't want to you have the White House to be spewing that kind of mean-spirited hate that doesn’t even belong on a playground sandbox.”

“The reality is, I’m sorry, I’m just going to keep loving on him,” he continued. “I’m going to tell the truth about him, but I’m going to keep loving on him, praying for the best for him and his family. That kind of vitriol, that kind of meanness, has no place in the presidency. Bring it on, Donald. Show your truth. I’m going to show mine. Love you, brother.”