Hillary Clinton made a stop Wednesday morning at the Harlem bakery Make My Cake, along with Congressman Charles Rangel.
Rangel reported that he’d been to the shop, during the holidays for example, and repeatedly expressed the worry that his wife would find out he’d indulged his sweet tooth.
He also had harsh words for a certain senator also running for the Democratic nomination: Vermont’s Bernie Sanders.
“There is a senator that I have heard is running for president. I’ve been in Congress for 46 years. Wouldn’t I have had a conversation with him?” He said he had only spoken with Sanders “recently about three or four months ago,” along with members of the Black Congressional Caucus.
He acknowledged the “frustration” with economic issues that Sanders was addressing, but asked what else Sanders had “made a priority” in his years in Congress.
Asked about African-American voters in New York who might support Sanders, Rangel said “maybe” but asked where exactly those voters might be.
Clinton walked in, wearing a black leather outfit matching Rangel’s. She chatted with voters and received a package of the bakery’s sweets.
Rangel repeated his questions about Sanders, and also looked ahead to further opposition: “New York City’s contribution to the Democratic Party is Don Trump.” Rangel mentioned the GOP candidates twice, first time using his full first name and the unfamiliar, shortened version the second time.
About an hour later, Clinton appeared live at the Apollo Theater down the street. Sen. Chuck Schumer introduced her, noting her listening tour of NY before becoming a senator, and her strong support of the state after 9-11, and of gun control and the Brady Bill. Clinton namechecked Nicholas Scoppetta, a devoted NYC public servant whose funeral Mayor Bill de Blasio attended instead of the rally, and Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, who is up in Albany trying to nail down the state budget. She committed herself to taking on inequality, both income and racial, and standing up to the gun lobby.
Then, the secretary was cheered off the stage. No amateur night boos for her, but she still had to leave quickly — the next show was coming in.
