Did Cory Booker side-eye Beto O’Rourke for upstaging him by speaking Spanish first?
Una imagen vale mas que mil palabras...or at least it was in the Democratic debate when Beto O'Rourke got the drop on Cory Booker when he broke out his Español first.
Una imagen vale mas que mil palabras...or at least it was in the Democratic debate when Beto O'Rourke got the drop on Cory Booker when he broke out his Español first.
Today’s water cooler conversation about last night’s Democratic presidential debate likely centered on the moment Beto O’Rourke made Cory Booker almost lose his religion with what appeared to be a dirty look when the Texas congressman broke out and spoke Spanish.
Cory Booker's face when Beto O'Rourke speaks Spanish at #DemDebate goes viral https://t.co/01sMft2J7Y pic.twitter.com/aGFGYE8nh2
— The Hill (@thehill) June 27, 2019
Booker became an instant meme when he seemed to size up O’Rourke’s Spanish-speaking skills with a side-eye that was heard around the internet Wednesday night, TIME reports.
Perhaps Booker wasn’t feeling that O’Rourke beat him to the punch since he’s bilingual himself and often speaks Spanish in interviews with Univision.
READ MORE: Beto O’Rourke does mea culpa on The View; hints Stacey Abrams could be running mate
Twitter quickly took note though of Booker’s not-so-poker-face.
“Cory Booker watching Beto speak Spanish is shook honey,” one person commented.
Cory Booker watching Beto speak Spanish is shook honey
— Jonathan Van Ness (@jvn) June 27, 2019
Reminder: Booker speaks Spanish, one of his first interviews on the day he announced was with Univision, so I doubt he was “perplexed” or “confused,” probably just jealous he didn’t get to speak Spanish first in a Miami debate. pic.twitter.com/rGFcxt3qOo
— Adrian Carrasquillo (@Carrasquillo) June 27, 2019
Cory Booker giving Beto O’Rourke the side eye when he starts answering questions in Spanish just won the Internet. #DemocraticDebate pic.twitter.com/iwppQvYnDD
— Andrew H. Scott (@CommissionerKY) June 27, 2019
Booker himself took it in stride when he commented about it later on CNN.
“I can’t really remember… I just knew he had laid a gauntlet down,” said a chuckling Cory Booker in response to a viral photo in which he appeared to be giving a “side eye” to rival Beto O’Rourke who was speaking in Spanish. #DemDebate https://t.co/wpHLm2ll5S pic.twitter.com/8tlNIW0uSh
— CNN (@CNN) June 27, 2019
Wednesday night while Booker’s reaction took center stage, there were other candidates who fought for position and pleaded their case to become President, including: New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, former HUD Secretary Julián Castro, former Maryland Rep. John Delaney, Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, Ohio Rep. Tim Ryan and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren.
Booker did have a time to shine and ultimately spoke some Spanish in his response, but it wasn’t as well-received as O’Rourke’s Spanish moment was and more so became the focus of social media memes.
Two other candidates found the moment laughable too. They get to hit the stage Thursday night in the second round of the debate.
I need to learn Spanish by tomorrow night at 9.
— Marianne Williamson (@marwilliamson) June 27, 2019
My Spanish is terrible.
— Andrew Yang🧢⬆️🇺🇸 (@AndrewYang) June 27, 2019
On Thursday night, taking the stage will be Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet; former Vice President Joe Biden; South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg; New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand; California Sen. Kamala Harris; former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper; Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders; California Rep. Eric Swalwell; writer and spiritual guru Marianne Williamson and entrepreneur Andrew Yang. Español
READ MORE: Kamala Harris pressed to get more personal about why she’s running for president
