Sens. Cory Booker and Kamala Harris on Thursday defended their criticisms of former Vice President Joe Biden at Wednesday night’s Democratic primary debate, arguing that the presidency of former President Barack Obama, who remains wildly popular among Democrats, is not above criticism.

The former president was somewhat of an off-stage target at Wednesday night’s debate, as 2020 hopefuls touted their own plans to build on or overhaul his signature health care law and criticized the rate of deportations in his administration. While there was virtually no criticism of Obama by name, attacks on his record were directed regularly at Biden, who served under Obama and is the front-runner for the 2020 nomination.

Booker argued that no politician, no matter how well-liked, should be above reproach. Asked in an interview on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” whether it “made sense” for Democrats to be carping about Obama’s tenure instead of President Donald Trump, Booker insisted that the intra-party criticism should not be out of bounds.

“Well, look, at the end of the day, you’re right, President Obama has been the statesman of our party and has the highest approval ratings, but I don’t think any administration, as you and I both know have been in public life, nothing is without criticism,” he said, adding that there are “really substantive issues to discuss,” especially when it came to immigration.

As the Democratic Party has drifted further left in years since Obama left office, the former president has increasingly come under fire from liberals who decry his policies as incrementalist or more moderate than they would have liked. Despite these criticisms, the former president still enjoys immense popularity among Democrats — a CNN poll from 2018 found he had a 97 percent favorability rating within his own party.

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