Bill and Hillary Clinton Reportedly Livid at Comparison to Weiner's Sex Scandal and Huma's Forgiveness
Former President Bill Clinton and his wife Hillary are reportedly "livid" at the campaign of New York City mayoral Candidate Anthony Weiner for comparing the Clintons' response to Bill's infamous White House sex scandal to Weiner and his wife's reaction to his explicit sexting habit.
"The Clintons are upset with the comparisons that the Weiners seem to be encouraging — that Huma is 'standing by her man' the way Hillary did with Bill, which is not what she in fact did,'' a top New York State Democrat told the New York Post.
According to the report, Weiner and his campaign operatives have explicitly cited the Clintons experience as they seek to assure Democratic voters that he is still a viable candidate to become mayor of New York City.
"The Clintons are pissed off that Weiner's campaign is saying that Huma is just like Hillary," said the source. "How dare they compare Huma with Hillary? Hillary was the first lady. Hillary was a senator. She was secretary of state."
The source further explained that Hillary was caught off-guard when Huma, a longtime aide and friend, continued supporting her husband's run for mayor despite knowing his flaws.
"Hillary didn't know Huma would do this whole stand-by-your-man routine, and that's one of the reasons the Clintons are distancing themselves from all this nonsense," said the source.
"Our marriage, like many others, has had its ups and its downs," said Abedin in defense of standing by her husband last week. Clinton's operatives took this statement as a veiled comparison to Bill and Hillary's union.
"Who didn't think Huma was referring to the Clintons when she said that?'' noted another prominent Democrat.
The Clintons' camp are concerned about how the association might affect Hillary's possible 2016 presidential run and wants to distance her from the Weiners as much as possible.
One Clinton operative is expected to publicly criticize Weiner as a part of this proactive defense and to let him know that the Clintons want him out of the Mayor's race.
In a 45-minute interview with the Staten Island Advance on Sunday, however, Weiner declared that he is going nowhere and said his scandal will make him a better mayor.
"I'm going to be a successful mayor because of it, because it's going to give me a level of independence," he told the Advance. "I'm not constructing a campaign around the approval of my peers. I'm constructing a campaign around the aspirations of my neighbors," he added.