During Anthony Weiner’s hastily put together press conference Tuesday afternoon, there was an unlikely speaker - his wife, Huma Abedin. While she had remained out of the spotlight during his first scandal that ended his career in congress, she has been a major part of his attempt at a political comeback in his New York mayor campaign. Now that he’s embroiled in another scandal, she has decided to speak.
The conference was put together quickly in response to reports of another online relationship Weiner was in. This one took place even after he resigned from Congress and Weiner was eventually forced to acknowledge the messages. At first he sent a statement, but then decided a press conference was needed. He said that he will not stop running for New York mayor and Abedin supports him.
“Our marriage, like many others, has had its ups and its downs,” Abedin said, notes The New York Post. It was her first time speaking at a press conference. “It took a lot of work and whole lot of therapy to get to a place where I could forgive Anthony.”
She was visibly nervous, but continued.
“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 he would run for mayor,” she said. “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. Thank you very much. Thank you for your time.”
According to People magazine, Abedin did write a piece for Harper’s Bazaar, defending him and explaining why she is still by his side.
“So why am I doing this? Because Anthony has always been a smart, caring and dedicated person, and while he's the same public servant who wants what's best for the people he represents, he is now something else – a better man,” she writes in the piece, which will be in the magazine’s September issue.
While Weiner refuses to stand down, The New York Times’ editorial today called for him to pull out of the mayoral race.
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