6:18 pm Apr. 18, 2012
Earlier this week, Oscar de le Renta, the world-famous fashion designer, endorsed State Senator Adriano Espaillat in his primary challenge to 21-term Rep. Charles Rangel.
Today, Rangel's campaign manager, Moises Perez, accused de la Renta of being "the poster child of the 1 percent," in an interview with blogger Roberto Perez (no relation).
Espaillat is hoping to rally the growing Dominican and Latino population in the upper Manhattan district around the "historic" opportunity to elect the first Dominican member of Congress.
Perez tried to talk-down the endorsement from the Dominican-born designer, and said overall, de la Renta's clientele puts him at adds with Espaillat's populist appeal.
"I'm sure they had heated discussions about this endorsement at the very least," Perez said. "You've got now the poster child of the 1 percent supporting the poster child of the 99 percent. That's interesting."
One of Espailat's most vocal supporters is City Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez, who was arrested during an Occupy Wall Street demonstration and frequently attends OWS events and rallies.
I reached out to Rangel's campaign spokesman, and Espaillat's, and will update with any response.
