Rep. Charles Rangel brings swagger to first debate of congressional race
ANNIE KARNI
Rep. Charles Rangel brought swagger and braggadocio to the first debate against the two challengers trying to oust him from the congressional seat he has held for 22 terms.
During an hour-long debate Thursday night against State Sen. Adriano Espaillat and Rev. Michael Walrond, Rangel pitched himself as the only candidate with the experience and White House connections to represent the district in Washington.
“I’m the only one up here that can deal with the question of immigration. It’s not because I’m so smart, it’s because it’s a national problem,” Rangel responded to debate monitor Maurice DuBois, the CBS news anchor, when asked about what a “pathway to citizenship” for immigrants should look like.
“f I thought for one minute that either one of you two could go to Washington and do my job, I’d be home with my wife and my grandkids and trying to make certain that I can help either one of you to do the best that you can,” Rangel said later, drawing laughs from the packed house at the Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem. “This is not the time to change congresspeople in this United States government.”
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