Carlos Danger, better known as mayoral candidate Anthony Weiner, held a press conference this evening co-starring his supportive wife, Huma Abedin, and said that he will remain in the race after another round of dirty chats and dick pics — sent after his resignation from Congress and the birth of his son — surfaced. “To some degree, with 49 days left until primary day, perhaps I’m surprised that more things didn’t come out sooner,” said Weiner in his first public appearance since the latest leak on a site called the Dirty. “I’m responsible for that behavior that’s led us to be in this place, but in many ways things aren’t that much different than they were yesterday.”
In a statement this afternoon, following hours of silence about the fresh sexts, Weiner said, “Some things that have been posted today are true and some are not.” But he insisted, “This behavior is behind me.” He remained vague about the timeline of events, although the anonymous woman claimed the messages lasted between August and November of 2012. Speaking tonight, Weiner confirmed, “Some of these things happened before, some of them happened after.” He added, “It’s in our rearview mirror, but it’s not far.”
Abedin, who said she was “very nervous,” followed up her husband’s statement with one of her own. “When we faced this publicly two years ago it was the beginning of a time in our marriage that was very difficult. And it took us a very long time to get through it,” she said, looking solemn. “Our marriage, like many others, has had its ups and its downs. It took a lot of work and a whole lot of therapy to get to the place where I could forgive Anthony.”
“It was not an easy choice in any way,” Abedin continued. “But I made the decision that it was worth staying in this marriage. That was a decision I made for me, for our son, and for our family. I didn’t know how it would work out, but I did know that I wanted to give it a try. Anthony’s made some horrible mistakes both before he resigned from Congress and after, but I do very strongly believe that that is between us and our marriage.”
“We discussed all of this before Anthony decided to run for mayor, so really what I want to say is: I love him, I have forgiven him, I believe in him, and as we have said from the beginning, we are moving forward.”
Weiner’s lesser-known rivals, nearly all trailing him in the polls up to this point, used today to stomp on his name. “Enough is enough,” said Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, who called on Weiner to withdraw from the race. Comptroller John Liu said Weiner’s “propensity for pornographic selfies is a valid issue for voters.” Former Councilman Sal Albanese also recommended Weiner withdraw, while Republican candidate John Catsimatidis added, “Anthony Weiner should do what is right for his family and our city and drop out of the race for mayor so we can end this soap opera.” Christine Quinn has yet to comment.
