Top Democrats Call On Weiner To Resign

It’s not just Debbie Wasserman-Schultz. In the wake of the revelations about contact with a 17 year old girl, the top leaders in the Democratic Party are calling on Anthony Weiner to resign:

The top leaders in the Democratic party called on embattled Rep. Anthony Weiner (D) to resign Saturday, a potential tipping point in the two-week long scandal involving the New York Democrat’s online liaisons.

“Congressman Weiner has the love of his family, the confidence of his constituents, and the recognition that he needs help,” said House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (Calif.). “I urge Congressman Weiner to seek that help without the pressures of being a Member of Congress.”

Of Weiner, Democratic National Committee Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz (Fla.) said “the behavior he has exhibited is indefensible and Representative Weiner’s continued service in Congress is untenable.”

Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Steve Israel (N.Y.) also called on Weiner to step aside.

Weiner, who has acknowledged “inappropriate” online conduct with at least six women, has insisted he has no plans to resign.

On Tuesday I said this:

If it turns out that there’s more to this story — if, for example, Weiner actually had a physical relationship with one of these women after he was married or one of the women was underage without his knowledge — then it’s likely to be the final nail in his coffin.

In this case, he was knowingly communicating with an underage girl. Both he and the parents say it was innocent, but on top of everything else that  doesn’t matter. It’s just another log on the woodpile, so to speak, and I think this may be about all Congress and Weiner’s fellow Democrats can bear. I don’t see how he survives now.

(Above paragraph edited from original content to correct grammatical error –DM)

Update: Politico’s Ben Smith reports on Twitter that Chris van Hollen, who held Steve Israel’s job at the DCCC up until 2010 and is how ranking member on the House Budget Committee, has joined in the calls for Weiner to resign.

Drip. Drip. Drip.

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Doug Mataconis
About Doug Mataconis
Doug Mataconis held a B.A. in Political Science from Rutgers University and J.D. from George Mason University School of Law. He joined the staff of OTB in May 2010 and contributed a staggering 16,483 posts before his retirement in January 2020. He passed far too young in July 2021.

Comments

  1. michael reynolds says:

    In this case, he was communication with an underage girl knowingly. Both he and the parents say it was innocent, but on top of everything else that almost doesn’t matter.

    Actually, it does matter. Are we saying Congressmen can’t write to kids anymore? That’s insane. Even for Americans that’s insane.

  2. Michael,

    If there wasn’t all the other stuff than this communication with the teenager would be irrelevant, now it just tends to look creepy. The blogger that James mentioned in his post on this is now linking to a report that the police discovered that this girl had deleted most of her DM conversations with Weiner from her computer, and she repeatedly referred to Weiner as her “boyfriend” on Twitter so that leads people to make conclusions that may or may not be true

    A guy who is already having explicit online communications with women is going to look creepy in the eyes of the public when something like this is revealed, like it or not. And since he spent a week lying about what was going on, people aren’t going to believe him when he says it was innocent. That’s the way it is.

  3. Mac Heath says:

    @michael reynolds

    Mr. Reynolds, on top of all the information that has been revealed in this case, your most concerned with a Congressman’s right to contact kids?

    No, this is an individual case regarding one Congressman. Frankly, knowing all we know, I wouldn’t want Mr. Weiner contacting my child–no matter her age.

  4. Janis Gore says:

    The sleeve of the jacket in that picture bugs me. Has he been sitting on it?

  5. michael reynolds says:

    What we know of Mr. Wiener is that he sent some junk shots to a woman on Twitter.

    We have no reason to believe he did anything with a minor. Quite the contrary, both the girl in question and her parents are fine with what went down.

    Dirty pictures does not equal child molester.

  6. It’s all about that thing called the appearance of impropriety. I didn’t say he was a child molester, but its clear this latest story, combined with Weiner’s decision to seek “treatment” and not resign, are too much for his fellow Democrats.

    Like I said in my other post, I think the obvious outcome if he doesn’t step down at some point is that he will find himself redistricted out of existence

  7. Janis Gore says:

    I don’t believe he’d go down that road. His most explicit conversations have been with willing 35- and 40-year olds.

  8. matt says:

    Shorter Doug “heads I win tails you lose”..

    I

  9. michael reynolds says:

    Doug:

    On the politics I don’t disagree.

    On the culture more broadly I just get tired of Americans and their blend of sexual immaturity and hypocrisy.

  10. PD Shaw says:

    michael, I generally agree with you, but the girl deleting the messages is problematic. Weiner may have had nothing to do with that, but it’s what one might expect from an inappropriate relationship with a minor. I expect the messages will be recovered, with or without warrants, and then law enforcement will evaluate them. If the messages were innocent, the girl just caused Weiner a lot of grief.

  11. G.A.Phillips says:

    On the culture more broadly I just get tired of Americans and their blend of sexual immaturity and hypocrisy

    I find it very hard to stop being a perv, er, sexual man made accident being addicted to porn from having worked with it for so long,yet I speak against it.

    Still I am not a married political leader who tries to have a **** off session with every girl who admires and follows me online as a fan and a constituent while fantasizing about super hero costumes and Glenn Beck lol………

    Tell you the truth, now that he is going for treatment I say give him a second chance barring anything thats really stupid and illegal coming out.

  12. Janis Gore says:

    Mr. Phillips, he’s past stupid. Let’s hope he’s legal.

  13. matt says:

    PD : The police already looked over the girl’s computer and her phone and found nothing wrong.. So what exactly are you talking about?

  14. Scott O. says:

    G.A., I never knew you were once a porn star. Interesting.

  15. G.A.Phillips says:

    G.A., I never knew you were once a porn star. Interesting

    Naw, I helped run a warehouse for a chain of stores. You develop bad habits and addictions when you can take a box of brand new videos home a couple times a week:(

  16. michael reynolds says:

    PD:

    If he was knowingly engaged in a sexual relationship — even an online one — with a minor, then I have no pity for him. In any case I have no pity for his sheer stupidity.

  17. AllenS says:

    michael reynolds says:

    If he was knowingly engaged in a sexual relationship — even an online one

    Tell me, how does one have a sexual relationship online? What does sexual relationship mean to you? This ought to be good. Something from the annals of BJ Clinton, I would guess.