Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-Brooklyn, N.Y.), a prime supporter of Senator Hillary Clinton’s (D-New York) presidential bid, blasted the personal life of New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani.
In a cover story on Giuliani in this week’s New York Observer, Rangel went after Giuliani in unusually personal ways, expressing confidence that Giuliani’s frontrunning status will fade either because of the former mayor’s liberal positions on social issues or the operatic drama of his personal life.
“Referring to Andrew Giuliani’s reportedly distant relationship with his father since the ugly bust-up of Mr. Giuliani’s marriage with Donna Hanover,” the article says, “Mr. Rangel said it was because ’sons respect and admire their fathers, but they love their mothers against cheating goddamn husbands.’ … Rangel said he regretted that all the personal problems surfaced so soon in the electoral process. ‘I’m sorry this damned thing turned out so early because, really, just like [embattled former Giuliani aide Bernard] Kerik, it would have bombed his ass out.’”
In the past, Right’s Field has taken shots at the thrice-married Giuliani’s personal life in the context that he is running for the nomination of a party that launched a campaign to remove a president, in part, because he was unfaithful to his wife. Across the country, Republicans blasted President Clinton for his extramarital affair.
Republicans have long used “family values” as a divisive political ploy. A hook to snag votes from rural America and the Bible belt, so when Giuliani is able to garner support from conservative Republicans that otherwise blasted Clinton, and Democrats in general, as moral degenerates, the hypocrisy is so blatant that it warrants discussion.
But for Rep. Rangel’s calling out Giuliani’s extramarital affair, specifically “cheating husbands,” while supporting Senator Clinton’s candidacy, it leaves a similar taste of hypocrisy. It would be especially wise for Clinton supporters to leave Giuliani’s adulterous background untouched lest Americans want to relive the late 1990s circus all over again.
To their credit, the Clinton campaign rejected these types of arguments in the campaign.
Asked Saturday afternoon outside Oak Park Elementary School in Des Moines, Iowa, if she had any comment on Rangel’s remarks, Clinton tersely said, “I don’t.” She added that she had not seen the story in question.
A Clinton campaign spokesman, Phil Singer, later told ABC News of Rangel’s remarks, “These kinds of comments have no place in the campaign.”
7 Responses to “Rangel Blasts Giuliani as “Cheating Goddamn Husband””
the moral issues was not the infidelity, it was the president’s immoral dishonesty in a sworn deposition. the fact he lied about something as trivial as an affair makes everyone wonder what else in those depositions he lied about pertaining to his business dealings and fundraising.
Bill Clinton’s infidelity doesn’t matter because they don’t care about honesty and integrity. Rudy’s cheating does matter because Republicans value moral integrity. So they aren’t viewed equally. Rudy is running against Thompson, McCain, Romney and Huckabee.
first of all, there is no indication that rudy ‘cheated’. they were legally married but separated when his relationship began. no evidence to the contrary has ever been shown.
reagan was divorced and his kids protested him, didn’t seem to effect his ability to destroy democrats in elections though.
If Bill Clinton was impeached then why didn’t he resign like Nixon?
hummmm ?
[...] Matt Ortega added an interesting post on Rangel Blasts Giuliani as âCheating Goddamn HusbandâHere’s a small excerpt [...]
Something to say?
‘because he was unfaithful to his wife’
president clinton was impeached for committing perjury, not cheating on his wife.
rangle’s hypocrisy doesn’t stop there, his comments about ‘cheating damn husbands’ is strange considering he himself has fathered 5 childrend by 5 different women, all of which were out of wedlock.
and values voters supporting rudy is no more hypocritical then anti-war voters supporting hillary.
Left by matt
October 22, 2007 at 12:53pm