Image Credit: Mario Tama/Getty Images
During an uneasy and somewhat riotous press conference (the congressman was interrupted and heckled more than once) this afternoon at a senior center in Brooklyn, N.Y, Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.) officially announced his resignation from Congress — where he occupied a seat for 12 years — in the wake of the Twitter scandal which erupted earlier this month.
Amid a flurry of flashbulbs, Weiner talked about everything from his humble beginnings in New York to the recent turn of events and, as he called it, “the distraction” he has caused. Weiner also apologized for his actions, telling the press and the nation, “I’m here today to again apologize for the personal mistakes I have made … I make this apology to my neighbors, my constituents and … particularly to my wife Huma.” He continued, “Today I announce my resignation from congress so my colleagues can get back to work, my neighbors can choose a new representative and my wife and I can continue to heal from the damage I have caused,” a statement he had to repeat as someone in the room had shouted over him.
Both the press conferences (this and the previous one in which he denied the allegations and claimed his Twitter was hacked) and the resignation itself marked a sad end to a once-respected and continually evolving political career, as any Weiner supporter will point out. Long before the widely publicized sexting scandal broke and he became late night talk show television fodder, the 46-year-old Democrat who had represented New York’s 9th district, was something of a star in his own right.
Weiner gained notoriety (and a band of devoted followers) over the past few years for his passionate, non-nonsense — and, as some might suggest, hot-headed — approach to the political world. While Weiner will likely be remembered for the now-infamous recent turn of events and resignation, his tirade against Republicans that voted “no” on the 9/11 health care bill will resonate more with others than lewd photos on the Internet or disorderly press conferences. In a heated moment on the floor of Congress in 2009, Weiner urged his fellow politicians to “do the right thing” and his order “The gentleman will sit!” when he was interrupted, quickly became a viral sensation. Watch below:
Of course, this was just one of many memorable moments from the former Congressman. From trading verbal barbs with Fox News anchors, including a war of overlapping words with Megyn Kelly (watch for Weiner’s biting send-off from the interview) to his sense of humor (he made visits to his longtime friend Jon Stewart on The Daily Show, as well as going toe to toe with Stephen Colbert, see below), Weiner was admired by many as brash, bold, and refreshingly daring. Only time will tell if it’s the Anthony Weiner of the past few years that will be remembered, or if the infamy will override his legacy.
Watch more of some of Rep. Anthony Weiner’s most memorable moments in office, PopWatchers, and let us know your feelings on the recent turn of events, as well as your feelings on the congressman’s career, in the comments section below.
Read more:
Jon Stewart grabs Weinergate by the… funnybone?
Jon Stewart faux-steps down as ‘Daily Show’ host due to Anthony Weiner coverage
Jimmy Fallon’s Anthony Weiner addresses his staff
quitter
BABA BOOEY BABA BOOEY!
American prudishness wins again.
yes, people who think it’s inappropriate for elected officials to engage in inappropriate sexual discussions, including with an underage girl, behind his pregnant wife’s back are such prudes! Horrible Puritans!
Oh, please. You sound like the Taliban. (And there were no underage girls)
Underage who? Get your scandals straight.
The police investigated the messages between the 17 yr old and they found nothing inappropriate or indecent about them. And do I care if he had inappropriate, sexual discussions with other ADULTS…No.
He should have never stepped down and members of the democratic party should not have asked him to step down. He was a powerful ally and his personal life is none of our business. Many Republican members get caught in sex scandels and keep their jobs.
I agree. It’s not like he was abusing his power or anything. He was just engaging in some smutty internet usage. He seemed to be a good representative, passionate and willing to fight for his people.
Umm…he lied about it all. If that’s abusing his power, then what is? If he would have come clean in the beginning and said yeah, I did it, I was wrong,then ok. But he lied and said someone hacked his account!
He does not owe you the truth about something that is none of your damn business.
No way? A politician lied? First time in history that ever happened..
underage girls? pregnant wife? totally acceptable. he’s awesome. a great guy!
You’ve lost all credibility by posting blatant lies.
sorry, crispy, but the guy admitted to having inappropriate conversations and sending pics to a 17 year old, still a minor in all states, so therefore at least one underage girl is involved. He also said he assumed that they were all legal age – clearly wrong in at least one case. He could have sent pics to 15 year olds for all we know. Ignorance is not an excuse. Maybe in your dungeons and dragons world, you calculate age in wizarding geldings, but in the real world, we use chronological age.
Sorry, wrong. The police investigated that and no pictures were sent. Even the parents said it was harmless. But hey, keep getting your fake outrage from Michelle Malkin.
you might be forgetting, pres bill clinton, democrat, got a bj from some chick named monica and got to keep his job.
I wasn’t distracted. I wasn’t offended. I don’t care.
A case study in how NOT to handle PR, and why lying usually comes back to bite you.
I guess if you pay hookers for sex like a someone down south then you can keep your job…just chatting online is a no no. Noted!
He should not have resigned. It just plays in to all the holy rollers. Let’s see if the next person steps down after there “Lewd” conduct. Oh that’s right that side is always giving a new definition of “lewd conduct”. Dude was stupid if anything, like so many other guys who have done the same thing, he just got caught. I guess divorcing your wife while she is in the hospital sick is an ok moral thing to do, or telling people they should rise against government and shoot people is also ok in there eyes, but snap a penis pic and OMG THE CHILDREN THE CHILDREN. Total CR*P, he would have shown more respect staying in and doing good then whimping out and caving, shame on the Weiner for that, not his pics.
Only in America would a politician as popular and respected as Anthony Weiner be pressured to resign over something so trivial and irrelevant to their job performance. If he’d had an affair, there wouldn’t be this outcry. I really don’t get it. What I find fault with most was his initial lies to the press. Yet, if every politician that lied was forced to resign, there’d be a lot of empty seats on Capitol Hill.
Not sure why he was pushed so hard to resign when others guilty of greater misconduct did not do so…ridiculous. He should have admitted his transgressions immediately though–can’t believe politicians/famous folks still try to cover stuff up when it’s clearly out of the bag already and can’t be stopped in this high tech age. Anyway, he is just going to be replaced with another person who likely has unsavory skeletons in his/her closet…
Feel sorry for Weiner!!
He has always been a shameless self-promoter.
Sorry to see him go out like this. I thought ole Charlie Rangel’s mis-deeds were a lot worse than sending pics of your weiner, and he’s STILL in his job.
Ohhh, that’s right Weiner is a white guy. Rangel is black.
As long as he’s not using tax payer’s money to pay hush hush money to those women, I really don’t see the need for him to step down. This maybe hard to believe and I myself don’t take part in it, but what he did is really not that “shocking”. Hell, I wouldn’teven be surprised if there was an APP for that. It wasn’t ILLEGAL and nowadays, it wouldn’t even be considered abnormal behavior.
It actually is illegal to send sexually suggestive images to someone who doesn’t want it.
Then the person upset would be the one to decide if they did not want it. Not you.
You see him sending images where he was partially clothed. That’s how they normally start, then when ASKED, (yes some women ask for these) he sent a picture of his last name **wink wink**. These women aren’t nuns and more than likely put themselves in that predicament. Picture exchange are a common thing on the internet and often times very revealing (via twitter or whatever) People do do that and it goes BOTH WAYS. It’s good that you don’t participate in thing like that and that you don’t know that it occurs, but it doesn’t mean that it don’t happen alot.
You guys do realize that the most profitable sites on the internet right now are dating sites. It also varies from simply dating to one night stands, where men and women intenionally leave their numbers and tweeter account. I guarantee that the women he texted/tweeted were in one of those sites. So you can’t really say that they didn’t want it.
So happy to see his wife ABSENT from the press conference. Why do these failures always have to make a big deal about resigning. Just release a statement and stop putting yourself on display.
Baba Booey Baba Booey. The Howard Stern Show strikes again! Benjy Bronk !!