(CNN) — New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker seems to tread carefully around speculation of a potential 2020 White House bid.
“I don’t know what the future’s going to bring,” Booker told David Axelrod on “The Axe Files,” a podcast from the University of Chicago Institute of Politics and CNN. “I’m not making predictions, but I want to unleash the fullness of who I am right now, and I want to call out injustice where I see it.”
The Democratic senator has come increasingly into the national spotlight under Donald Trump’s presidency. Just last week, he and Democratic Georgia Rep. John Lewis staged a sit-in on the Capitol steps to discuss the Senate health care bill. The action, livestreamed on Booker’s Facebook page, added further fodder to conjectures about his role as an emerging leader in the Democratic party.
However, the New Jersey senator noted that he is not actively “thinking about aspirations for another office,” instead indicating that any potential candidacy would arise out of his commitment to his role as a lawmaker.
“I think that politicians make a terrible mistake if they’re thinking about aspirations for another office because I think it undermines their integrity where they are,” Booker said.
“If I start thinking about the future like that or engaging in that stuff … I think it would make me a lesser of a senator,” he continued. Booker said it was by virtue of being “100% present” as mayor of Newark that opportunities arose for his congressional campaign.
Moreover, Booker said he has no intention of posturing for a theoretical White House run.
“I’m a guy that’s going to criticize policies that, frankly, in a lot of states that are important for presidential elections would find that very much of a threat,” he said. “My loyalty is to the position I’m in right now.”