The Hill News

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich endorsed embattled Rep. Charles Rangel's (D-N.Y.) Republican challenger Saturday.

Harlem-based pastor and former NFL player Michel Faulkner is steering clear from attacking Rangel over his pending ethics charges. But Gingrich warned in a statement released by Faulkner's campaign says that "the economy is under attack from the Obama administration... we need people like Rev. Faulkner in Congress to fight for small business owners who are the job creators of America."

Faulkner said in the statement that he and Gingrich both "share a passion for small business development and job creation. We both believe that protecting the American Dream and passing it on to our children is the ultimate key to serving the American people."

Despite his ethics troubles, Rangel is heavily favored to keep his district on Election Day. He won the Democratic primary with 51 percent of the vote last month.

Faulkner, in his inaugural run ! for political office, is focusing on high unemployment in New York's 15th District, saying he has a plan to bring 42,000 new jobs to Harlem by 2020.

"We need to bring jobs to Harlem, Washington Heights, and the rest of upper Manhattan, right now," he said. "We can't wait any longer for Government solutions that will cost more than we can afford and be ineffective. The time is now."