Hillary Clinton thinks she knows the state of New York better than her Democratic primary challenger, Brooklyn-born Bernie Sanders.
“Who do you think is more of the real New Yorker?” CNN anchor Chris Cuomo asked Clinton during an interview on Wednesday.
“Look, I think I know the state better,” said Clinton, who established a residence in Chappaqua, N.Y. ahead of her successful Senate bid in 2000.
“I have a lot of recent experience,” continued Clinton, who established her campaign headquarters in Brooklyn. “I’ve worked hard,” she added.
Clinton was heavily criticized as a carpetbagger during the 2000 campaign, with opponents pointing out that she was born in Chicago, went to college and law school in Massachusetts and Connecticut, respectively before moving to Arkansas. She lived in Washington D.C. after that.
As the Bill Clinton presidency was wrapping up, the then-first lady announced a Senate run for the New York seat being vacated by Daniel Patrick Moynihan.
Sanders was born in Brooklyn in 1941. He graduated high school there and briefly attended Brooklyn College before transferring to the University of Chicago. He worked at the New School for Social Research in New York City after graduation. He moved to Vermont in 1968 but still maintains a heavy Brooklyn accent.
The battle over New Yorker bona fides has heated up heading into the Empire State’s April 19 primary. Clinton leads in recent polls, though Sanders desperately needs a win if he is to have a shot at the party nomination.
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