Hilary Clinton’s former aide Huma Abedin says she knew her marriage to disgraced politician Anthony Weiner was over after a photo of him sexting in bed next to their sleeping son went public.
In an interview with CNN’s Dana Bash to promote her new book, 45-year-old Abedin revealed she weathered years of her sex pest husband’s scandals before filing for divorce in 2017.
Her perspective on the doomed marriage changed after a photo emerged in 2016 of Weiner lying next to his then-four year-old son. In the snap, Weiner is lying shirtless on his back, showing off a bulge in his white boxers.
‘I did kind of reach my breaking point,’ Abedin said. ‘For so long I was saying, I don’t understand why can’t you just knock it off. This was my final straw.’
The photo – the third sex scandal for Weiner – prompted an investigation from child services during a time when Abedin was traveling extensively as part of Clinton’s presidential campaign team. She said she was questioned by social services workers about whether the situation might have been avoided if she was a more ‘present parent.’
‘I was one of those working mothers who constantly felt torn between leaving for a campaign trip and taking care of my child and I think a lot of working mothers can relate to what that feels like that,’ she told Bash.
‘It was one of the hardest things I’ve had to endure in those closing days of the campaign.’
Hilary Clinton’s former aide Huma Abedin says she stood by her sex pest husband, former congressman Anthony Weiner, despite mounting sex scandals
Abedin told CNN’s Dana Bash that she reached her breaking point in 2016 after discovering Weiner was sexting in bed next to their sleeping then-four-year-old son
Although they’re now divorced, Abedin said she’s had to push her animosity toward Weiner aside to best co-parent their son Jordan, now 10
Although they’re now divorced, Abedin said she’s had to push her animosity toward Weiner aside to best co-parent their son Jordan, now 10.
‘I tell my son I love him so many times a day, I want him to feel that he is loved, that he is cherished, that he is supported,’ she said.
‘I do believe a lot of anger we don’t understand in adults, so much of it goes back to the experience they had as children. For me, my single most important job is parenting this little boy.’
She said although he’s likely not yet aware of the magnitude of the scandals, the boy was previously taunted after Weiner was sentenced to 21 months in November 2017 for sexting a 15-year-old North Carolina girl.
‘When Anthony was sent away, [our son] was teased a little bit about that but he’s really handled it well,’ she said. ‘We do know that, we’ve shared things with him and we will continue to do that, as you know, he ages in an appropriate way.
‘We believe we should always be sources of truth for him.’
The photo of Weiner in bed with his son prompted an investigation from child services during a time when Abedin was traveling extensively as part of Hilary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign
Before filing for divorce, Abedin stood by her man – who she married in 2010 – through two previous sexting scandals that she said forced the family into hiding.
‘The first few years of Anthony and I living in this together, I felt as though we were in a bit of a bunker,’ she said. ‘There was the outside world [but] I wasn’t sure who I could trust or who I could talk to.
‘It gave you a a sense of insecurity; I would read about things I had supposedly told friends in confidence.’
Weiner, then a New York congressman, was a rising political star until May 2011, when a photo of a man’s crotch was sent from his Twitter account to a young student.
The Democrat at the time claimed his account was hacked, but in June of that year tearfully admitted that he took and sent the crude image.
Weiner destroyed his political career through a series of sexting scandals, but Abedin stood by his side until the third strike
More intimate Weiner selfies emerged later that year as Abedin was pregnant with their son, who was born in December 2011.
The scandal died down and in 2013 Weiner made a run for New York City mayor, claiming he was a changed man. He led the polls until a second scandal broke after his ex-partner Sydney Leathers sent compromising pictures of him to thedirty.com.
The misconduct didn’t just ostracize Weiner; it also hurt the reputation of his wife, she said Sunday.
‘We were both shunned from certain society events,’ she said. ‘We were both asked to not show up at charity and food bank. It increasingly led us to be in this isolation together.’
Although they’re now divorced, Abedin said she’s had to push her animosity toward Weiner aside to best co-parent their son Jordan, now 10.
‘I tell my son I love him so many times a day, I want him to feel that he is loved, that he is cherished, that he is supported,’ she said.
We were both shunned from certain society events
‘I do believe a lot of anger we don’t understand in adults, so much of it goes back to the experience they had as children. For me, my single most important job is parenting this little boy.’
She said although he’s likely not yet aware of the magnitude of the scandals, Jordan was previously taunted after Weiner was sentenced to 21 months in November 2017 for sexting a 15-year-old North Carolina girl.
‘When Anthony was sent away, [our son] was teased a little bit about that but he’s really handled it well,’ she said. ‘We do know that, we’ve shared things with him and we will continue to do that, as you know, he ages in an appropriate way.
‘We believe we should always be sources of truth for him.’
Before filing for divorce, Abedin stood by her man through two previous sexting scandals that she said forced the family into hiding.
‘The first few years of Anthony and I living in this together, I felt as though we were in a bit of a bunker,’ she said. ‘There was the outside world [but] I wasn’t sure who I could trust or who I could talk to.
‘It gave you a a sense of insecurity; I would read about things I had supposedly told friends in confidence.’
Abedin is reflecting on the scandals as she promotes her new book, ‘Both/And: A life in Many Worlds’
Weiner, then a New York congressman, was a rising political star until May 2011, when a photo of a man’s crotch was sent from his Twitter account to a young student.
The Democrat at the time claimed his account was hacked, but in June of that year tearfully admitted that he took and sent the crude image.
More intimate Weiner selfies emerged later that year as Abedin was pregnant with their son, who was born in December 2011.
The scandal died down and in 2013 Weiner made a run for New York City mayor, claiming he was a changed man. He led the polls until a second scandal broke after his ex-partner Sydney Leathers sent compromising pictures of him to thedirty.com.
The misconduct didn’t just ostracize Weiner; it also hurt the reputation of his wife, she said Sunday.
‘We were both shunned from certain society events,’ she said. ‘We were both asked to not show up at charity and food bank. It increasingly led us to be in this isolation together.’