Sen. Cory Booker told David Axelrod that he hasn’t ruled out a presidential bid in 2020.

Said Booker: “I think that politicians make a terrible mistake if they’re thinking about aspirations for another office, because I think it undermines their integrity where they are. If I start thinking about the future like that or engaging in that stuff … I think it would make me a lesser of a senator.”

Politico: “To Booker’s critics, the high-wire moves are all part of his positioning for 2020, when there’s likely to be a crowded Democratic primary. His emergence as a face of the Democratic resistance to Donald Trump while the party is desperately searching for new leadership is not lost on his fellow senators, party strategists or Washington’s chattering classes, even if Booker himself insists he’s not itching to take on Trump in 2020.”

“But in interviews with over a dozen lawmakers, donors and operatives, Democrats say that whether he likes it or not, the 47-year-old senator is in the mix for the Democratic nomination in 2020 simply because of who he is — and what he’s doing now.”

Rick Klein: “Keep an eye on Sen. Cory Booker. Not that he’s making himself easy to ignore, with his decision to break Senate precedent to testify in opposition to his colleague, Sen. Jeff Sessions, in confirmation hearings for attorney general. This is not really about blocking Sessions from joining the Cabinet. (Sen. Susan Collins’ participation in favor of Sessions sends a more important signal, about the minimal chance of GOP defections.) For Booker, this is more about early markers for a Democratic Party looking for new leaders. The Justice Department will be at the forefront of critical issues regarding race, law enforcement, criminal-justice reform, and drug policy – issues where President Obama’s legacy is acutely in the balance. Who will be seen standing up for those values in a dark season for Democrats? It might not be too hard to imagine actions taken this week being filtered onto a Democratic debate stage in 2019.”

Jim Geraghty: “It looks like New Jersey Senator Corey Booker is interested in running for president in 2020. That’s the easiest way to explain a guy whose initial reputation in politics was ‘Mr. Bipartisan’ throwing himself onto the tracks of an oncoming train of an all-but-certain confirmation.”

Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) “is now referring questions about whether he is being vetted as a potential running mate for Hillary Clinton to her campaign — a shift from as recently as two weeks ago, when he flatly denied he was in the running for the job,” CNN reports.

Said Booker: “I’m just referring questions about the vice presidency to the woman who is going to have to make this decision. You should talk to the Clinton campaign.”

Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) said that he is not being vetted as a potential running mate for Hillary Clinton, after a report named the New Jersey Democrat as one of several under consideration, Politico reports.

Said Booker: “I am hearing much more from media folks like you asking me these questions. It’s flattering and everything like that, but I’m not being vetted.”