NYT to Weiner: Quit Mayor's Race Now
Lisa Barron
In a scathing editorial Wednesday, The New York Times called on Anthony Weiner to end his race for New York City mayor.
"At some point, the full story of Anthony Weiner and his sexual relationships and texting habits will finally be told," the Times Editorial Board said of the former congressman. "In the meantime, the serially evasive Mr. Weiner should take his marital troubles and personal compulsions out of the public eye, away from cameras, off the Web and out of the race for mayor of New York City."
The commentary came one day after Weiner, a Democrat who resigned from Congress in June 2011 after admitting he texted lewd photos of himself to women he did not know, was forced to revisit the issue of his sexual misconduct.
"A Web site called The Dirty had another woman's story, another round of sex texts, and another picture of Mr. Weiner's penis," noted the Times.
"The startling news was that this new episode apparently took place last summer, only a few months before Mr. Weiner was to begin another run at public office," the editorial continued. "The marital trauma that Mr. Weiner and his wife, Huma Abedin, had said was behind them was not as far behind as we thought."
Weiner has insisted that he intends to continue his mayoral campaign, despite calls by opponents and others to abandon it.
"It's up to Mr. Weiner if he wants to keep running, to count on voters to forgive and forget and hand him the keys to City Hall. But he has already disqualified himself," the Times said.
"Mr. Weiner and Ms. Abedin have been saying that his sexual behavior is not the public's business. Well, it isn't, until they make it our business by plunging into a political campaign.
"Mr. Weiner says he is staying in the mayoral race,” the Times wrote. “To those who know his arrogance and have grown tired of the tawdry saga he has dragged the city into, this is not surprising."
The city's other leading newspapers also blasted Weiner.
The New York Post, known for its outrageous headlines, went with "Meet Carlos Danger" — a reference to Weiner's reported pseudonym in the online chats with a woman he met over the Internet.
The Daily News joined the Times in calling for Weiner to get out of the race, saying on its cover: "Beat it! Enough of all the lies and salacious revelations. Weiner is not fit to lead America's premier city."