Anthony Weiner Press Conference: Congressman Has 'No Intention Of Splitting Up' With Wife

In a press conference Monday, seven-term Democratic Rep. Anthony Weiner confessed that he had indeed tweeted a lewd photograph of himself to a 21-year-old college student (which he previously denied) and admitted to having inappropriate online and telephone relationships with six women over the course of three years--before and after getting married to Hillary Clinton aide Huma Abedin last July.

"My wife has known about some of these online relationships since before we were married. But she did not know until this morning that I had not been truthful about the Twitter posting last week. I'm here primarily to express my apologies to my wife and family," Weiner said.

In the press conference, the congressman said that he has never met any of the women with whom he had corresponded, nor has he had sex or "physical relations" outside his marriage. He choked up while talking about his wife, and said that they intend to stay together.

"I love my wife very much and we have no intention of splitting up over this," Weiner said. "We have been through a great deal together and we will weather this. I love her very much and she loves me."

Former President Bill Clinton presided at Weiner and Abedin's Long Island wedding in July 2010. Though the couple has no kids, Weiner said in July 2009 that he had ruled out running for mayor in order to focus on Congress and "build a family."

When questioned about Abedin's response to the revelations, Weiner said, "She said she loved me and said we're going to get through this. But she deserves much better than this."

Weiner, who emphasized that he will not be resigning, said he will not seek therapy at this time.

"This is not something that can be treated away. It is a deep weakness of mine, and it is a mistake," he said.

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Comments

[kellygreen]

03:19 PM on 06/08/2011

Unfortunately for Anthony, he only gets a VOTE as to whether or not the marriage continues...

....his wife, OTOH, gets a VETO.

...and she hasn't gone on the record yet as to whether or not she plans to use it.

So if I were him, I woudn't be shooting my mouth off in public about what she will or will not do.

[kel]

08:47 AM on 06/08/2011

I love that people go and say they were hacked in these situations. Last year my supervisor (A special ed teacher K-4th grade) uploaded porn from his cell to his face book. I mean some of it was pretty gross. When confornted he said that someone hacked his account and was trying to sabatage his career. Seriously. Just own your mistakes, and PS we don't want to know this stuff about you. PS he still has his job!

[rcozad]

06:17 PM on 06/07/2011

He is not the one to make that decision ! The marriage is still new enough she may be eligible for an annulment !

[ChaCubed]

04:55 PM on 06/07/2011

I respected and appreciated Anthony Weiner, and I am sorely disappointed. I can't imagine how his wife feels, but if she is more sophisticated and cosmopolitan than me, and not as disappointed as I am, I'm happy for her. Either way, and whatever choice she makes, I won't judge her.

[IrishgirlsUSA]

04:36 PM on 06/07/2011

Run lady run, run far away, there are good men in the world: men who would be happy to be by your side.

[GCurry]

03:47 PM on 06/07/2011

Only takes one to leave, but it takes two to stay together.

[Susan Orlins]

02:27 PM on 06/07/2011

It makes a person wonder if there are any men, in public office or otherwise, who are NOT sexting or noodling around on the Internet.

I blog about my confessions on www.confessionsofaworrywart.com with a wry look at divorce and more.

[P Murphy]

01:18 PM on 06/07/2011

I find it insane that there are alot of people who think she should leave him because of this. They might be able to work it out. There are worse things that a man can do. All the people huffing and puffing on here, what do you know that your significant other might be doing? I'm sure Mrs. Weiner was just as shocked as you would be if you found out about your partner's indiscretions. It's always a shock because we all assume it can't happen to us. We really need to starting looking at this differently. On one hand, people complain that people are not committed to their relationships anymore and there's such a high divorce rate but on the other hand, the same people are constantly encouraging people to end their marriages. This happens more frequently than you think and we really need to start taking a good look at the future of relationships. It was wrong but should not automatically mean the demise of their marriage. They have to decide what's the best path for them.

[OtayPanky]

01:18 PM on 06/07/2011

It's so cool that they were married by BIll Clinton.

A re-enactment of the wedding would make a great SNL skit. Paging Darrell Hammond.

[mwsomerset]

05:20 PM on 06/07/2011

that it would....you so bad.

[ethiopia1a]

01:05 PM on 06/07/2011

She's stupid if she stays with him... Not even 1 year in he's caught in multiple henhouses.

[anne 7070]

01:02 PM on 06/07/2011

That was not a 'mistake', it was a long term habit, it made who he is. At 46 people do not change much. If at that age you haven't grown up, you never will. If she stays with him she will have to live hypocrisy, same as he will.
Personally, I would leave. It is a matter of self-respect.

[luckydog1857]

12:19 PM on 06/07/2011

He needs treatment. This problem runs deep. There will be more...

[knowcomment]

12:02 PM on 06/07/2011

Overdeveloped sense of entitlement. Underdeveloped sense of shame. This sort of thing will continue as long as we keep putting borderline (if not complete) psychopaths in office. And the lobbyist psychopaths will be the only ones staying on task.

[courtroomcreations]

12:00 PM on 06/07/2011

"I did not have textual relations with that woman"

[Cranmer1549]

01:58 PM on 06/07/2011

That's brilliant.

[gmb007]

11:09 AM on 06/07/2011

Unfortunately, with power and prestige often comes stupidity.