Friends of former Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY), a convicted sex offender, are urging him to run for political office again — making a comeback by pitching himself as a moderate Democrat to rebuild New York City.
Curtis Sliwa, the former GOP mayoral candidate for New York City, said he and others are encouraging Weiner to run for office again.
“He has been encouraged to run for office by me and others,” Sliwa said on his 77 WABC radio show which he hosts with Weiner. ” … to be the moderate Democrat, to be what this city needs now to take it back from [Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez]. He knows the moderate path to save the city.”
Weiner’s problems in public life first started in May 2011 when he mistakenly posted a photo of his penis to his Twitter page. Weiner quickly deleted the post and claimed, repeatedly, that he was hacked.
Andrew Breitbart, founder of Breitbart News who died in February 2012, published the deleted post on his website at the time as establishment media took Weiner at his word that he had been hacked.
Breitbart even posted his first-hand account of the scandal.
Then, months later, Breitbart posted a photo of Weiner that he had sent to another woman which prompted the then-congressman to call a press conference. At the press conference, Breitbart spoke to the media and defended his reporting on Weiner’s sexting habits.
When Weiner took to the podium, he admitted that he had, in fact, posted the initial photo of his penis on his Twitter page and was not hacked. Weiner also apologized to Breitbart directly before stepping down from office days later.
Weiner’s sexting habits did not end with “Weignergate,” as the scandal came to be known. When he tried to stage a political comeback in 2013 by running for New York City mayor, further details came to light — this time about his sexting more women under the alias “Carlos Danger.” Those other women included 22-year-old Sydney Leathers.
In May 2017, Weiner pleaded guilty to sending obscene material to a 15-year-old girl and was sentenced to 21 years in federal prison. Following his release, Weiner was also made to register as a sex offender following his release from prison in May 2019.
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jbinder@breitbart.com. Follow him on Twitter here.
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