Politics

Weiner Won't Quit Because New York Isn't Full of Quitters

If there's one thing male politicians embroiled in sex scandals are getting good at, it's the defiant "I won't quit" video. San Diego Mayor Bob Filner made one weeks ago, and now it looks like it's Anthony Weiner's turn to give it a try.

By Abby Ohlheiser
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If there's one thing male politicians embroiled in sex scandals are getting good at, it's the "I won't quit" video. San Diego Mayor Bob Filner made one weeks ago, and now it looks like it's Anthony Weiner's turn to give it a try, releasing a close-up, direct camera address explaining that he's staying in the mayoral race because New York is tough:

"You know some times, people say to me 'whew,' this campaign is pretty rough, you may wanna quit," Weiner opens, continuing:

I know that there are newspaper editors and other politicians who say that 'boy I wish that guy Weiner would quit.' They don't know New York. They certainly don't know me. Quit isn't the way we roll in New York City. We fight through tough things. We are a tough city. There are people all over new york who get up in the morning with a pretty tough day ahead of them and they don't quit.

His rallying, not-quitting cry, released late on Tuesday, was instant fodder:

Weiner demonstrated his commitment to not quitting by canceling  and then showing up late, to an appearance at a mayoral forum today.

Update 11:00 p.m.: While Weiner might not be quitting ever, his wife, Huma Abedin, is taking an extended vacation from her job with Hillary Clinton, according to Politico. While noting that a vacation around August was always her plan, it apparently became even more her plan after the last week in her husband's campaign:

But she decided to stick to it as current events in her husband’s campaign have unfolded, the sources said...“Huma is not taking a leave of absence, but she will be taking vacation time in August to support her family during Anthony’s campaign,” said a Weiner campaign source. “She had always intended to do this.”

According to Politico's sources, Abedin was also encouraged to not appear in Weiner's campaign video released today.

This article is from the archive of our partner The Wire.