Rangel Thanks Cuomo For His Support, But He Might Not Actually Have It [UPDATED]

Charlie Rangel Receives Council Speaker Christine Quinn's Endorsement for his Reelection

At a press conference this afternoon to accept an endorsement from City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, Rep. Charlie Rangel thanked all of the public officials who had endorsed him, including one who has not. At least, not publicly.

“I want to thank Mayor Bloomberg, the Governor and the other public officials who put their names on the line in saying that, as far as they’re concerned, I deserve a renewal, a re-up for another two years,” he said.

But the governor has not endorsed Rangel, at least not publicly. Asked “has the governor endorsed you?” Rangel responded,

“Well thats a good question. I assumed that he had,” he said, his eyes widening, as he thought for a second.

“Well that’s good! He always does and I just personally haven’t asked,” he said.

Rangel went on to say he has a party tonight for his supporters, at the Sheraton Hotel from 6-8 p.m. Asked whether the governor would attend, Rangel seemed a bit confused.

“I don’t know! But it was my impression that all of the ex-mayors – Dinkins, Koch and Bloomberg and the Governor were all going to be on the same page. But I’m glad that you mentioned that because sometimes you can get ahead of yourself in the heat of the campaign.”

UPDATE: A Cuomo administration spokesman emails us the governor “has a family obligation so he is unable to attend” Rangel’s party tonight.

Rangel was facing ethics charges in the House of Representatives when Cuomo was first elected. At the time, Cuomo told the Daily News his thoughts on Rangel’s censure:

“It’s obviously a sad situation to experience,” he said. ”It’s important that people have full faith in the integrity of public service, so it’s painful to watch, but we’ll see what happens at the end of the process.”

Earlier at the press conference, Speaker Quinn said she supported Rangel in part for his early support for same-sex marriage.

“I myself had all three of these individuals at mine and Kim’s wedding,” she said, referring to Rangel and Councilmembers Robert Jackson and Inez Dickens.

“Go back and look at the record. Who was one of the first leading African-American officials in this country to speak out in full support of marriage equality for the LGBT community? Charlie Rangel. Who has always been there for the LGBT community? Charlie Rangel,” Quinn said.