Weiner Admits To Additional Sexting Partners Following Resignation From Congress
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- Democratic mayoral candidate Anthony Weiner admitted Thursday to having additional sexting partners since resigning from Congress in disgrace. This as the pressure on him to quit the race intensified.
"I don't believe I had any more than three," Weiner said. "People might want names and serial numbers and dates and texts, but someone else will have to provide it for you because I'm not going to do it. I'm not going to comment on the specifics of these things."
Weiner spoke while volunteering at the Masbia of Flatbush soup kitchen in the Midwood section of Brooklyn.
A young woman, 23-year-old Sydney Leathers, provided it all to Inside Edition – the X-rated texts, the sexting pictures, the truth as she saw it, CBS 2's Derricke Dennis reported Thursday.
"I felt like he was saying one thing to me and saying another thing to his wife, another thing on the campaign trail. I don't know who the real Anthony Weiner is, I guess," Leathers said.
"The exact wording was that he is an argumentative, perpetually horny middle-aged man. At the time, I was like, no you're not. But, yes he is," Leathers added.
Weiner also said he had bawdy exchanges with six to 10 women while in office.
"Remember something -- these were people I never met. These were anonymous people on the Internet. The last woman herself was remaining anonymous, or wanted to," he said. "I regret that anyone who was at the other end of this got dragged into this. Now they may choose for themselves to bring themselves out in the open, but I refuse to do that. I don't think it's fair to them."
POLL: WEINER SLIPS TO SECOND PLACE
A Marist poll conducted after his latest sexting scandal was revealed shows the former congressman has slipped to second place.
Weiner has 16 percent of the vote, but trails City Council Speaker Christine Quinn by 9 points. Last month, when Marist last conducted a mayoral poll, Weiner had a five-point edge over Quinn.
In this latest survey, Bill de Blasio and Bill Thompson are tied for third with 14 percent, just two points behind Weiner.
The poll found 47 percent of Democrats want Weiner to stay in the race, while 43 percent want him to drop out.
"For many Democrats the latest revelations about Anthony Weiner are more of the same, only more so," said Lee Miringoff, Director of The Marist College Institute for Public Opinion. "Weiner has lost his lead and his negatives are at an all-time high."
"I think voters were willing to give him a second chance, but this latest round of revelations clearly voters are reluctant to give him a third chance to try to convince them about his candidacy," Miringoff told CBS 2's Marcia Kramer.
The poll also found that 55 percent of Democratic voters have an unfavorable impression of the former congressman, a 19-point jump from last month's poll. Three in 10 voters have a favorable opinion of Weiner, the poll found.
LINK: Full Poll Results (pdf)
Nearly half of those polled -- 46 percent -- say Weiner's online sexual relationships will impact their vote.
When questioned about whether Weiner deserves a chance at redemption, 47 percent of those polled said they believe he deserves another chance in the public arena while 45 percent disagree and say he does not have the character to be mayor.
The poll was conducted by interviews on Wednesday and has a margin of error of +/- 2.8 percent.
WEINER DETERMINED TO PUT CHOICE TO VOTERS
Still, Weiner remains determined to continue his bid for New York City mayor despite growing calls for him to drop out of the race.
Weiner also took on Quinn, who has lambasted Weiner for his judgment.
"You can question my judgment. I didn't lie to the people of the city of New York and say I wasn't going to overturn term limits. I didn't express the judgment to the people of the city of New York as part of my official job that I would not do something and then do it to give myself an additional term of office and the mayor an additional term," Weiner said.
Weiner Continues Defiant Tone After Latest Sexting Revelations Uncovered
Weiner added the conversation should continue to be about record and vision for the future, not about personal matters.
Weiner Continues Defiant Tone After Latest Sexting Revelations Uncovered
"My mistakes are manifest. They are in the context of my personal behavior in the privacy of my home. They became public and I brought it upon myself. I have no one to blame for this situation but me," he said.
"I'm waging this campaign on a bet and the bet is at the end of the day citizens care more about their future than about my past with my wife and my embarrassing things and if I turn out to be wrong you're going to find out in 45 days or so," Weiner told Kramer.
The latest scandal erupted Tuesday after the gossip website The Dirty posted X-rated messages and a crotch shot it said Weiner exchanged with a woman last year while using the online alias "Carlos Danger.''
Weiner has been a favorite in the polls since he launched his political comeback attempt in late May. In a letter released Wednesday to supporters, Weiner said he will continue on.
"New Yorkers don't quit and I'll never quit on you," he wrote.
At least four of his mayoral rivals, Public Advocate de Blasio, former City Councilman Sal Albanese and Thompson, all Democrats, and billionaire businessman John Catsimatidis, a Republican, said this week he should drop out.
Catsimatidis reiterated his stance on Thursday, saying in a statement:
"Today's new revelations that Anthony Weiner has admitted sexting with at least 3 women since resigning from Congress sends a clear message: Anthony Weiner needs help from medical professionals. His actions, words and deeds show deep rooted problems that need to be addressed. He should end his campaign today and get the help he desperately needs. The Mayor of New York is the de facto head of a school system with 1.1 million students. No parent in this city wants someone with these problems to interact with their daughters or be an example for their sons."
Quinn and City Comptroller John Liu criticized him, but didn't directly call on him to quit.
WEINER'S LATEST SAGA REVERBERATES ON CAPITOL HILL
Weiner's former colleague, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), also spoke out on these latest sexting revelations and seemed to address whether Weiner should end his bid for mayor.
"That's up to the people of New York. Let me be very clear. The conduct of some of these people is reprehensible. It's so disrespectful of women. And what's really stunning is they don't even realize. They don't even have a clue. It's really, if they're clueless, get a clue. They need therapy, do it in private," Pelosi said Thursday.
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