Newark, New Jersey Mayor Cory Booker (Mel Evans/AP)Newark, N.J., Mayor Cory Booker has apparently had enough of saying he's sorry this week.
The rising Democratic star has been under fire since a Sunday appearance on NBC's "Meet the Press"during which he said Democratic attacks on Mitt Romney's record at Bain Capital were "nauseating," Having endured days of excoriating criticism, and having tried to explain his comments on multiple talk shows and via a self-produced web video, Booker took to his favorite venue to vent. Writing on his Twitter account, Booker lashed out at his critics Thursday night:
"Sorry I make u sick. And sorry I made a mistake. I'm sorry that 15 seconds on MTP erodes my 20 yrs of work in inner cities around our nation."
That was almost immediately followed up by another tweet to his more than 1,150,000 followers, reading, in part: "In the end we are all imperfect. Best we can do is learn from our mistakes, not let them stop u but make u stronger."
Booker's "Meet the Press" appearance ignited criticism from his Democratic colleagues and caused Republicans to enlist him as an involuntary Mitt Romney surrogate. The mayor was quick to put his comments into a larger context, releasing a Web video explaining that he was only opposed to negative campaigning in general and that examining Romney's record in the private sector was fair game. He said much the same thing during an appearance on The Rachel Maddow Show, while expressing his frustration over 'being used' by the GOP.
But that hasn't stopped some critics from going after Booker, who last in the national spotlight just a month ago, when he ran into a burning home to save a local resident.
In a chat on the New York Times Opinionater blog, conservative columnist David Brooks wrote, "By the way I don't know if you saw the crawlback video Booker released later in the day, but that was painful to watch. So humiliating to see someone collapse under a bit of pressure."
Some of the criticism from liberals was even more scathing, including this missive over at the Daily Kos from blogger TXDem: "The toothpaste is out of the tube. You can't put it back in, Mayor Booker."
Yahoo News has contacted Mayor Booker's office for a comment on his tweet, but has not yet received a response.
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