Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Cory Booker has returned a donation he received from a pharmaceutical executive — after claiming at the first debate that his campaign rejects financial support from the industry.
The $2,800 contribution was given by Eagle Pharmaceutical executive vice president, general counsel and chief compliance officer Michael Cordera, according to ABC News, which also reported on the donation being returned.
According to ABC, Booker’s campaign reported in Federal Election Commission filings several donations from executives and leaders of pharmaceutical companies, as well as employees across the industry.
During the debate, the New Jersey lawmaker spoke about his contribution policy while answering a question from moderator Jose Diaz-Balart, who asked if pharmaceutical companies — 14 of the 20 largest are in New Jersey — be held criminally liable for the opioid crisis.
“They should absolutely be held criminally liable because they are liable and responsible,” Booker said.
“This is one of the reasons why long before I was running for president, I said I would not take contributions from pharma companies, not take contributions from corporate PACs or pharma executives, because they’re part of this problem and this opioid addiction in our country,” he added.
Eagle manufactures injectables for chemotherapy and muscle spasms.
Booker’s campaign press secretary said in a statement to The Post, “Since 2017, Cory Booker has rejected campaign contributions from pharmaceutical companies — not only their corporate and industry PACs, but also from their c-suite executives and board chairs.
“His presidential campaign rejects these contributions too, and we carefully review our FEC filings and do everything we can to ensure we’re abiding by this pledge. Based on our review of our most recent campaign finance report, we were confident we lived up to the high standard we set.”
His campaign spokeswoman told ABC they would not return other contributions because those donors were not executives or in senior leadership positions.