Antonio Delgado is now the Democratic candidate seeking to represent the New York 19th Congressional District in Washington, DC. His resumé is varied and impressive: he has been a Rhodes Scholar, he graduated Harvard Law School, and he was a lawyer at one of the largest lobbying firms in the country. A decade or so ago, he was also an aspiring rap artist. Like many African American rap artists, he used some salty language in his lyrics, including the use of the N word.

Delagado’s incumbent Republican opponent John Faso has seized on those lyrics and said they are “inconsistent with the views of the people of the 19th District and America.” He also called them “offensive.”

An editorial in The New York Times accused Faso of “race-baiting” Delgado. Certainly consumers of rap music would likely not be offended by language that Delgado used, which is similar to language other rappers have been using for decades. In another move that is seen by some as racially charged, Faso also ran ads on the Internet referencing a Central American gang and promising to “Keep MS13 out of New York.”

But let’s discuss for a moment just what is “offensive” and “inconsistent with the views” of the people who live here.

Faso twice voted for legislation that would have kicked thousands of people in the district off of their healthcare plans. We personally know many people in the district who found these votes to be offensive. And that’s just one of many votes that have been inconsistent with the views of a great many people in the district. The website FiveThirtyEigth (tinyurl.com/y8vlgkpu) tracks the votes of members of Congress. According to their tally, Faso has voted with President Donald Trump 89.7% of the time. And among those votes are many that favor the interests of wealthy corporations and individuals over the middle and working classes.

Faso has voted to make it harder for low-income people to qualify for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as the food stamp program). To people who believe the United States has enough resources to ensure that no one goes hungry, this in an offensive position to hold, and the law is targeted at the most vulnerable of our citizens.

Faso also supported a law that would allow a person with a concealed-carry permit the right to carry the concealed weapon from state to state. If passed, that means that residents will be able to obtain a concealed weapon permit in a state with very lax gun rules, and take that concealed weapon into another state with strong gun rules, without officials in the second state being able to do anything to prevent it. Not surprisingly this is a law supported by the National Rifle Association and opposed by groups like momsdemandaction.org.

Faso also supported the ban of a rule that prohibited some financial companies from using arbitration agreements to prevent people from participating in class action suits. This was a change sought by the financial services industry, and it limits the ability of average investors to seek justice when disputes arise.

In another attempt to rollback financial regulations, Faso supported legislation that would repeal the ability of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation to compel orderly liquidation of a “failing financial institution if the institution’s imminent failure threatens financial stability.” Or put another way, if this were to become law, then if big financial institutions ever got into the same situation that precipitated the Great Recession in 2008, the federal government would likely have no option other than to bail them outonce again. It’s easy to guess who would win with the law.

In the area of protecting the environment, the League of Conservation Voters (LCV) gives Faso a lifetime score of 34%, which means a majority of the time Faso sides with polluters. He supported the Hydropower Policy Modernization Act of 2017, which according to LCV, “would undermine the balance of power in hydropower licensing by prioritizing the profits of power companies over the health of our rivers and the people, wildlife and communities that depend on them.”

On another environmental issue, according to LCV, Faso “opposed legislation that would restore funding to the EPA’s Environmental Justice Program after the Trump administration proposed to eliminate it in its FY18 Budget Request. This critical and successful program helps low-income and communities of color overcome the disproportionate impacts of exposure to hazardous pollution and environmental contamination, burdens that have been historically placed on these communities.” Once again, Faso supported big polluters over vulnerable communities.

Thus, when it comes to “offensive” or “inconsistent with the views of the district,” it would seem that Faso’s voting record could bear closer scrutiny.