Cory Booker hits back at critics via Twitter: ‘Sorry I make u sick'

— -- Newark, N.J., Mayor Cory Booker has apparently had enough of saying he's sorry this week.

Under fire since Sunday after an appearance on NBC's "Meet the Press" during which he said attacks from President Barack Obama's re-election campaign over Romney's time at Bain Capital were "nauseating," Booker lashed out on social media Thursday night, writing on his Twitter account, "Sorry I make u sick. And sorry I made a mistake. I'm sorry that 15 seconds on MTP erodes my 20 yrs of work in inner cities around our nation."

That was almost immediately followed up by another tweet to his more than 1,150,000 followers, reading, in part: "In the end we are all imperfect. Best we can do is learn from our mistakes, not let them stop u but make u stronger."

Booker's "Meet the Press" appearance ignited criticism from his Democratic colleagues and caused Republicans to enlist him as an involuntary Mitt Romney surrogate.

The mayor was quick to put his comments into a larger context, releasing a Web video explaining that he was only opposed to negative campaigning in general and that examining Romney's record in the private sector was fair game.

But that hasn't stopped some critics from going after Booker, who was thrust into the national spotlight last month when he ran into a burning home to save a local resident.

In a chat on the New York Times Opinionater blog, conservative columnist David Brooks wrote, "By the way I don't know if you saw the crawlback video Booker released later in the day, but that was painful to watch. So humiliating to see someone collapse under a bit of pressure."

Some of the criticism from liberals was even more scathing, including this missive over at the Daily Kos from "TxDem," who wrote, "The toothpaste is out of the tube. You can't put it back in, Mayor Booker." And the website for BET accused Booker of "going rogue."

Yahoo News has put in a call for comment to Booker's office but has not yet received a response.

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