By Carla Zanoni
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
HARLEM — Scandal-plagued Rep. Charles Rangel launched his re-election campaign Sunday – by taking a swing at President Obama.
The Harlem Democrat hit out at Obama’s commitment to fighting the Iraq war, and compared him to former Vice President Dick Cheney.
He said Obama shared the former administration’s hunger for oil.
“I challenge anyone to tell me we aren’t there because of the oil,” he told the Daily News in an interview published Sunday, the day he was slated to officially announce his bid for a 21st term in Congress.
“The lack of an honest explanation (for the war) is consistent with Bush and Cheney,” he told the News.
Rangel, a veteran of the Korean war, is facing at least four challengers in the race for New York’s 15th Congressional district, which includes Harlem, Washington Heights and Inwood.
He is being investigated by the feds over charges of unreported income and tax fraud, and he stepped down as chairman of the powerful Ways and Means Committee after an ethics committee scolded him for cashing in on Caribbean junkets.
But he told the Daily News, “I get the sense the people really don’t think I was treated fairly.”
