PLAINS, Ga. — A former president is expressing who he'd like to see run to become the next president of the United States.
New Jersey Democratic Sen. Cory Booker joined Former President Jimmy Carter and Rep. John Lewis in Plains, Georgia for the president's weekly Sunday school class at his home church in January.
During their trip, Booker and Carter share a moment in which Carter said he hopes Booker throws his name into the hat to be a candidate for the 2020 presidential race.
MORE: Who is Cory Booker?
"I'm very glad to have you here this morning and hope you'll come back," Carter said in an Instagram video uploaded to Booker's account. "I hope you run for president."
"Thank you for saying that," Booker replied. "It means more to me than you can ever imagine."
In an accompanying photo post, Booker reflected on how Carter was the first person he ever voted for.
"I was in grade school and our teacher had an election in our class and I proudly voted for him," Booker wrote. "I told him that today after jumping in a car in Atlanta and heading to Plains, GA with John Lewis to attend the Sunday school class President Carter teaches. It was one of the more meaningful trips of my life to spend time with these two moral giants."
In more video from his Instagram account, Booker and Lewis discuss the legacy of the Civil Rights movement and the need to unify the country, ahead of the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday.
"You have to believe it is better to love than to hate. You have to have the ability - the power to forgive. To be reconciled. "We're brothers and sisters. We're people. We're part of the same family - the human family."
Read Booker's full caption below:
"Jimmy Carter was the first person I ever voted for. It was the 70s, I was in grade school and our teacher had an election in our class and I proudly voted for him.
I told him that today after jumping in a car in Atlanta and heading to Plains, GA with John Lewis to attend the Sunday school class President Carter teaches.
It was one of the more meaningful trips of my life to spend time with these two moral giants.
Both men talked to me and others about love and grace and how both require humility and courage.
I believe we need a revival of civic grace in our country. We have so much common pain in America - from the lack of affordable health care to the opioid crisis to dignity assaulting jobs that don't pay a living wage or offer basic security and so much more. We have a common pain, but we lack a common purpose.
We need a more courageous empathy that enables us to see each other; to help understand that the lines that divide us are no where near as strong as the ties that bind us; to help us recognize that as is said in the African saying: if you want to go fast, go alone but if.you want to go far, go together.
Now more than ever, we need each other to do great things; we need the limitless power that we can manifest through our collective efforts.
Today these two men shared their wisdom with me and others. Their continued service and spirit - and ours - must ignite the moral imagination of others. Each of us, must be light amidst the dark; tireless kindness amidst mean spiritedness; moral voices amidst moral vandalism; healers amidst the hurt - each of us must lead with love.
I confess I fail to live up to this standard. The struggle is real. But I also know, as Frederick Douglass said, "If there is no struggle, there is no progress." May we all engage in the struggle. May we all be driven by the conviction to extend grace and champion love.
Thank you President Carter and Congressman Lewis for being steadfast in these difficult times. Like a light house in a storm, your stature is a grace that guides."
Booker is a junior Democratic senator currently serving in the United States. He is the first African-American senator from the state and previously served as the mayor of Newark, N.J. from 2006 to 2013.
On Feb. 1, Booker announced he would join a race full of other high-profile Democratic contenders, including Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren and New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand and Kamala Harris from California.