Rep. Charles Rangel said the success of Bernie Sanders' campaign "surprised the hell out of me." | AP Photo Rangel hits Sanders on appeal to minorities

CHARLESTON, S.C. — Forget his recent polling surge in Iowa and New Hampshire: Bernie Sanders poses Hillary Clinton no challenge among minority voters, New York Rep. Charles Rangel told reporters ahead of the South Carolina Democratic Party’s dinner here on Saturday evening.

“I never, never expected that Senator Bernie Sanders [would] get this far, but I don’t see how he is any particular political challenge to Senator Clinton,” said Rangel, a Clinton backer who served with Vermont’s Sanders in the House. “Being from New York, New Hampshire, and Vermont are parts of our great country, but just not really truly representative of our great country. We have set up these little testing grounds, and I think they’re important. But if Bernie won everything in the places that are less diverse. I don’t see that as being representative of the American people across the country."


Iowa and New Hampshire “are testers, you know,” he added. “Amateur hours to see whether you’re ready for the big one. … I never consider Senator Bernie Sanders to be in the same professional standard for the president as I do Hillary Clinton, not by a long shot."

Clinton still leads Sanders in most national polling, and particularly among minority voters like the large African-American community that is bolstering her lead here in South Carolina.

Rangel said he doesn’t think Sanders is well-known enough to be a real challenge to Clinton, but that even if that changed, Clinton would likely be safe once voting ends in the first two states, which are largely white.

“No one knows who the hell Bernie Sanders is, and it’s not his fault. Bernie’s a nice guy from Brooklyn,” Rangel said. “Found his way to Vermont in the House and then the Senate. But that has nothing to do with having established any relationships with minority communities. And I’d like to emphasize: it’s not his fault."

Rangel then compared Sanders’ presidential effort to that of Republican front-runner Donald Trump.

“I can’t think of anything to say negatively about Bernie Sanders but he surprised the hell out of me when he thought he could be president of the United States, and quite frankly he still surprises me, like nobody in politics ever has,” Rangel said. “I could say the same thing about my friend Donald Trump. I know his ego, and I know how much he loves himself. And it doesn’t surprise me when he said he wanted to be president. Or Pope, for that matter."