Friends Don’t Let Friends Take Advice From Anthony Weiner
Image by Getty
By Ari Feldman August 16, 2016
Anthony Weiner has declared to The New York Times Magazine that he has “weirdly become a little bit of an elder statesman.”
The formerly charming and inspiring former U.S. representative for New York’s ninth congressional district was interviewed by Mark Leibovich on his role as a kind-of consultant, his non-future as a political pundit and why you wouldn’t want him as a campaign manager. (Which we thought was kind of obvious?)
“No one would want me,” Weiner said. “Would you really want the distraction of having me as your campaign manager?”
In tweeting out a link to the article, Weiner wrote, “If only I was a wee smidgen better at taking advice. Sigh.”
If only I was a wee smidgen better at taking advice. Sigh. https://t.co/3HYJGTWIQj
— (((Anthony Weiner))) (@anthonyweiner) August 16, 2016
He touched base on the recent documentary about him, “Weiner”, (not to be confused with “Weiner Dog”) sharing the different responses it has generated among those who would approach him on the streets of New York.
“The movie seems very much to be a Rorschach test of what people thought about the thing itself,” he said. “Some people approach me, and they’re like, ‘Oh, you got a raw deal.’ Some people approach me saying, ‘Oh, man, I wish you hadn’t messed up.’ Some people approach me and say, ‘Man, you are such an idiot.’”
Weiner also opened up to Leibovich about his deepest self, as he does memorably in the movie.
“To some degree, the same thing that made me successful and that allowed me to survive stuff is that my emotional wiring isn’t fully connected,” he said. “I have a very thick skin. Without going down a rabbit hole here, you could argue that some of my emotional wiring wasn’t working terribly well. That is how I can survive having 40 cameras outside my house.”
If only the wiring between Weiner’s Blackberry camera and the Internet hadn’t been fully connected, either.
Contact Ari Feldman at [email protected] or on Twitter @aefeldman.
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
