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New Jersey Senator Cory Booker may have brought the Wells Fargo arena floor to its feet during a rousing speech at the Democratic National Convention Monday – a speech that invoked the power of Maya Angelou’s “Still I Rise” poem and scrutinized Donald Trump’s business record – but not everyone was thrilled.

“We have a presidential nominee in Hillary Clinton who knows that, in a time of stunningly wide disparities of wealth in our nation, America’s greatness must not be measured by how many millionaires and billionaires we have, but by how few people we have living in poverty,” Booker said to the crowd.

“America, we will rise.”

Shortly after, Trump took to Twitter with an attack of his own:

But Booker, who later told CNN he didn’t want to answer Trump’s hate with hate, isn’t fazed.

“We are a nation that has come so far with people struggling to overcome powerful opposition,” he told NewsOne in an exclusive interview Tuesday.

“We still found ways to overcome that, to rise and have risen to be a nation of greater inclusion,” he said of his inspirational endorsement speech while admitting this country still has work to do.

Monday night’s speech was a preview of what many expect will be a Booker ticket in the near future. Many suspected Clinton would tap Booker as her running mate before Sen. Tim Kaine was chosen.

Critiques aside, it seems the use of Angelou’s language in the energetic speech will be used as a rallying call for Democrats as the election ramps up.

“The call of Maya Angelou really speaks to that very essence of America. That’s a call we need now.”

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