

No shit it was. He wants to run for president and he knows that stunt will make headlines but this will be buried in comments where the headline is “16 democrats vote for trump nominee” (aka exactly what is happening here)
Booker is classic neoliberal, no ethics or morals, guided by money and power. 10-15 years ago he was deeply in the pocket of the pharmaceutical industry because they are huge in NJ. Then his aspirations went higher and he realized that association was harmful, at that point he had connections that made him no longer reliant on their cash, so he shed them. It’s not growth, it’s a calculated move
Remember not a lot of the world speaks English. When I talked to some of my Japanese friends and language exchange partners prior to this election they weren’t sure about trump but typically described him as someone who was a powerful leader
Also keep in mind that they generally are super polite and in that “if you can’t say anything nice don’t say anything at all” space. Except for a small handful I’m very close with even now they won’t say much bad, will just ask “how are things in America”, “what’s the perception of him in America”, etc and will artfully dodge the question of “what’s the perception of him in Japan. Except for my one friend who’s more outspoken and we are a bit closer, who is like “end the trade alliance and force all the military bases to close!”
But to my original point much of his crass and idiotic behavior doesn’t necessarily translate well and usually doesn’t make the news on NHK. It’s kind of similar to how American news headlines do him so many favors. If you only know trump through Washington post, NYT, etc headlines he sounds so much more competent than he is. But if watch him speak you realize he is just so goddamn stupid