Senator Cory Booker joked that if former First Lady Michelle Obama had married him, he would be president right now.
The New Jersey Democrat was speaking at an award ceremony on Thursday when he cracked up the crowd about becoming commander in chief.
Booker said his comment would get him in trouble, but he went for it anyway.
“If she’d married me, I would be president right now,” Booker said.
The crowd went wild with laughter. Some even applauded in a sign of agreement.
Booker, who once ran for president himself in the 2020 Democratic primary, has long been a fan of the former first lady.
He delivered the line while talking about receiving a call on his cellphone from the former president who he referred to, and not for the first time, as “Michelle’s husband.”
Booker went on to praise the former president for calling him from the Oval Office back when he was a mayor during Hurricane Sandy.
The senator spoke about how it is the role of the president to lift people up and provide comfort rather than try to instill fear.
He said he missed the Obamas.
It was not the first time Booker has spoken about Hurricane Sandy or receiving a call from the former president in 2012, but his joke about marrying Michelle received some of the loudest laughter on Thursday.
The former first lady has largely shied away from politics since her husband has left office, but she has been a favorite
The New Jersey lawmaker was delivering the keynote address at the RFK Human Rights Award ceremony on Capitol Hill when he made the remark.
Booker’s speech went on to take a more serious tone. He talked about how the U.S. is in a current storm, but it is a “moral storm.” He called for people to stand for unity and light.
