Mayor Bill de Blasio refused to say today whether his Administration for Children’s Services should investigate his one-time foe Anthony Weiner for taking a racy photo with his five-year-old in the frame—but he called the ex-congressman’s most recent sexting scandal, and the destruction of his marriage to Huma Abedin, “incredibly sad.”
De Blasio wouldn’t comment when asked after an unrelated press event in the Bronx whether Weiner had committed a crime by taking a semi-nude photo of his crotch with his small son in bed beside him. Weiner sent the shot to a Republican woman he was exchanging explicit pics with last year, and she shared it with the New York Post, which plastered it on its front page yesterday.
The spread marked the third instance where Weiner’s compulsion to send women sexual images over the Internet turned him into fodder for the tabloids—and prompted Abedin, the vice chairwoman of Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign, to announce she was splitting from Weiner after six years of marriage.
“I’m not a lawyer. I don’t know. I think the whole thing is incredibly sad,” de Blasio said, expressing a special pity for Abedin. “I feel for them and I particularly feel for Huma.”
The mayor maintained his silence when reporters pressed as to whether ACS would look into potential mistreatment of the child.
“I don’t speak to what ACS should or shouldn’t do, and obviously if they make any decision that would be a confidential matter,” he said.
Weiner’s urge to expose himself electronically destroyed his 12-year career in the House in 2011, when he accidentally posted a lewd picture on his Twitter account. He subsequently confessed he had traded semi-nude photos online with six women, and abdicated his seat.
It was the revelation that he had continued that habit into 2013 that allowed de Blasio to rise above Weiner—once the Democratic front-runner—in that year’s mayoral race. De Blasio, who struggles with scandals and poor poll numbers as he heads into his re-election bid next year, recommended the fallen pol forget about holding an elected position again.
“I think that’s not going to happen,” he said. “I think he is someone who should address his issues and not worry about public office.”
