Tester, Booker roughhouse in campaign video: ‘This is Tester’s version of giving me the finger’

Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mon.), who is expected to face a tough campaign for reelection next year, on Thursday released bloopers to a campaign video in which he pushes Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) into a wall that then breaks.

“See how determined he is,” Booker joked in the video on Twitter, pointing to the crack in the wall that Tester pushed him into. “This is actually Tester’s version of giving me the finger.”

“That’s exactly what it is, and I do it a lot,” Tester shot back.

Democrats will try to hold onto their slim majority in the Senate in 2024, with Tester being one of the most vulnerable incumbents Republicans intend target, a fact he acknowledged in the blooper video.

“Hey, it’s gonna be a tough race,” Tester said, pointing at the camera. 

Booker poked fun at Tester, saying there’s “no one like him. Thank God.”

“No s—,” Tester joked back.

After they both inspected the damage to the cracked wall behind them, Booker turned to the camera, with his hand on Tester’s shoulder, and said “chip in today.”

“This didn’t really go as we had planned,” Tester said. “But hey. Help me out. Help me out.”

Recent polling suggests Tester may be in a better position than other vulnerable Democrats in red states. A Morning Consult survey from earlier this month showed he is one of the top 10 most popular senators among his constituents, including a 42 percent approval rating among voters in his state who do not approve of President Biden.