'Mendacity has become the norm': Cory Booker flays Trump for 'toxic environment being created now'

Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) lamented over the weekend that untruthfulness was becoming the "norm" in President Donald Trump's America.

In an interview with Booker that aired on Sunday, CNN host Jake Tapper wondered if the New Jersey senator had spoken to his friend Ivanka Trump about her father's political career.

"I think there's a problem in this country right now that we are having problems talking to each other," Booker said. "There millions and millions of good Democrats, millions and millions of good Republicans who are Americans -- 99 percent of us are good people... I don't care what party you are, recognize this: We are at a time of increased fear in our country."

"Because of Donald Trump?" Tapper asked.

"There is something seriously wrong when mendacity as become the norm," Booker replied. "There is something seriously wrong when law abiding citizens are afraid to leave their homes. There is something seriously wrong when hate crimes are surging. There is something seriously wrong. This is a toxic environment being created right now."

"And I don't care who you are, if you consider yourself a leader, you have an obligation to stand up and do something about it and lead with love and not appealing to people's darker angels or exploiting that fear."

Watch the video below from CNN, broadcast March 12, 2017.