Cory Booker, the New Jersey Senator assumed to be angling for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, found himself in trouble with progressives Thursday after he voted against a measure to allow prescription drugs to be imported from Canada.
Booker was one of 13 Democrats to oppose the symbolic provision, but he was the target of derisive news coverage and a minor social media campaign. Angry progressives quickly noted Booker is one of the drug industry’s biggest financial beneficiaries in the Senate.
The senator said Thursday he supports drug importation, but that imported drugs must meet US safety standards. “I opposed an amendment put forward last night that didn’t meet this test,” he said in a statement, though that didn’t persuade some of his critics.
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