Cory Booker’s Reaction To Beto O’Rourke Speaking Spanish At The Democratic Debate Is Going Viral
The 2020 election is off to a hilarious start after an unintentionally funny moment at the Democratic debate on Wednesday went viral. Former Texas lawmaker Beto O’Rourke responded to a question about tax rates in Spanish rather than English, and Senator Cory Booker’s face during the response is causing social media to explode.
According to The Hill, it all went down when O’Rourke received his first question minutes into the debate. The issue on the table was marginal tax rates, and the 46-year-old Texas representative switched from English to Spanish as he responded to the question, causing some of the other people running to be caught off guard.
It was Booker’s face, in particular, that got tongues wagging. The 50-year-old from New Jersey stood near O’Rourke with his mouth agape as he listened to O’Rourke’s response.
“This economy has got to work for everyone,” O’Rourke began in English, “and right now we know that it isn’t. It’s going to take all of us coming together to make sure that it does.”
From there, he switched over to Spanish for the rest of his answer, earning the politician praise from many people on social media for his bilingual response. Booker, on the other hand, got some good-natured teasing for his reaction.
Full Frontal with Samantha Bee’s official account weighed in on Booker’s face with a joke.
When your friend comes back from study abroad #DemDebate pic.twitter.com/pvw4sYWhHu
— Full Frontal with Samantha Bee (@FullFrontalSamB) June 27, 2019
So did The Daily Show’s account.
When Dad says "Hola, como estas?" to the waiter at the Mexican restaurant #DemDebate pic.twitter.com/64FY2LV6kp
— The Daily Show (@TheDailyShow) June 27, 2019
Others just took a moment to enjoy the humorous expression.
Cory Booker trying to translate Beto’s Spanish ?? #DemocraticDebate pic.twitter.com/NvNFQ9loOr
— Aaron Levine (@AaronLevine_) June 27, 2019
Cory Booker's face while Beto O'Rourke speaks in Spanish LMAO pic.twitter.com/9aaPALihfC
— Caleb Hull (@CalebJHull) June 27, 2019
“Cory Booker watching Beto speak Spanish is shook honey,” tweeted Queer Eye’s Jonathan Van Ness.
Despite the teasing about not being able to understand O’Rourke’s response, Booker has said that he does know Spanish after spending time in a Spanish language immersion program in Ecuador. He showed off his skills later in the debate when he received a question about what he would do on his first day in office if voters elected him.
His response was to criticize Trump’s immigration policy as it relates to the treatment of migrant children, something that has been a hot topic in the news recently.
Some people on social media wondered if Booker’s face was a reaction to the fact that he was hoping to wow the audience by speaking Spanish first.
“CORY WAS STARING DAGGERS AT BETO SPEAKING SPANISH BECAUSE HE WAS PLANNING HIS OWN SPANISH REVEAL,” tweeted Caity Weaver.
As for O’Rourke’s response, some people pointed out that he didn’t actually answer the question he’d been asked.
“Beto managed to avoid answering the question in both Spanish and English,” tweeted Jackee Harry.
