Anthony Weiner Flips Off Reporters After Crushing Loss in NY Mayoral Campaign
New York mayoral candidate Anthony Weiner was photographed giving the middle finger to a reporter on Tuesday night after delivering his concession speech following a crushing loss in the Democratic primary polls.
Weiner's gesture was captured by CNN affiliate NY-1, and has since made the rounds on Twitter.
The former congressman had been hoping to bounce back from a number of controversies, including a high profile sexting scandal that threatened his political career, but finished in fifth-place in the Democratic primary and received only 5 percent of the votes. Fellow candidate Bill de Blasio currently has over 40 percent of the votes and is in first place, but it is unclear if he will avoid a runoff or not.
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"Now, sadly, we did not win this time," Weiner said in his concession speech. "But I could not be more proud of the campaign we ran. We had the best ideas. Sadly, I was the imperfect messenger."
It was not immediately clear what led to the incident on Tuesday night, though the accompanying text from the Tweet that exposed the photo of him giving the middle finger read:
"The Press, Weiner security scuffle. Reporter: 'These are the type of people you surround yourself w/, who push us?'"
Weiner sunk into further trouble in July, well into his comeback mayoral campaign, when new revelations of online relationships with women surfaced. His wife, Huma Abedin, who is Hillary Clinton's aide, has stood by his side during the campaign trail, but the Huffington Post noted that she was absent from the concession speech.
Just last week, Weiner confronted a heckler inside a Brooklyn bakery during a campaign stop, who had called him a "scumbag" and said that he is "married to an Arab" in derogatory fashion.
"What rabbi told you that you were my judge?" Weiner asked the man.
"You want to believe you're superior. But you're not. Where do you get the morality to judge me? Do you know who judges me? Not you. You don't get to judge me because you have shown no sign you are superior to me, and you are not my God."
After reflecting on the confrontation, the former congressman later said that the man was allowed to challenge him.
"Look, you're allowed to say stuff to me," Weiner said. "But if you're going to say vile things about me and my family, you should expect that I'm going to go back at you."
