"It's a Jewish holiday -- enough said."
That's Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.), explaining why he won't be attending Hillary Clinton's final campaign event in Washington, D.C. on Saturday. For the record, Rangel is definitely not Jewish, though his comment wasn't a total non sequitur. Rangel was appearing at a press conference with some of his fellow Clinton supporters from New York's congressional delegation, and Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-N.Y.), who is Jewish, had just made a similar joke, referring to the Jewish Sabbath, which falls on Saturdays.
Rangel, who is a longtime backer of Clinton's, had expressed a little bit of exasperation with her decision to remain in the race on Wednesday. "We pledged to support her to the end," Rangel told the New York Times. "Our problem is not being able to determine when the hell the end is."
According to the Long Island newspaper Newsday, the majority of Clinton's supporters in New York's congressional delegation will not be attending the Saturday event. During the press conference, Ackerman elaborated on the reason for the no-shows, saying, "She scheduled this event late yesterday -- we all have complicated schedules and obligations back in our districts to meet with our constituents." Newsday reports, "Many delegation members, who planned to leave Washington for New York today, were miffed that Clinton didn’t make her announcement sooner to accommodate their schedules, a person familiar with the situation said."
Shares