More on the Weiner Scandal
BROWN: The latest revelations against former Congressman Anthony Weiner have dealt him a setback. New polls show support dropping significantly in his race for mayor of New York and earlier today, Weiner confirmed that his campaign manager has now quit. All right. So let's talk about this. I want to bring in Sally Quinn, a columnist for "The Washington Post." Hi Sally, good to see you.</s>SALLY QUINN, "THE WASHINGTON POST" COLUMNIST: Hi. Glad to see you.</s>BROWN: All right. So where to begin with this? I guess we can start with, do you think this is the beginning of the end for Anthony Weiner?</s>QUINN: I do. But you know, we keep thinking it's the end for everybody and then it's never the end. In this case I think that this second go- round given the fact that they have been out publicly in the last year giving interviews first to "People" magazine and then to "The New York Times" saying what a - wonderful couple they were and the baby and how he's done everything to be the perfect father and husband, and then I think that her complicity in all of this may be hurting him, as well as her. Because I think that most people thought, "Well poor woman, she is pregnant. The guy did all this awful thing. He resigned. Now they're off having their own little family life" and we now learn that she found out that he still was doing it last year and still sending pictures of his private parts and offering an apartment to this other woman and still she agreed and this is like Elizabeth Edwards, agreeing for John Edwards to run for president when she knew that the mistress was pregnant with his child. It's insanity. She agrees to go through this whole thing again knowing that the story is going to come out and so I can't help even though - I mean, I think he's a narcissistic creep, you know, but everybody sort of agrees on that but Houma is a lovely person. I mean, she is beautiful and she is intelligent, and she is charming and she is smart. The idea that she would put herself through this and put her child through this, because the child is going to read about it at some point is so baffling to me that I can't - I just can't give her a pass on this one. I think this is so difficult for women to see her. I thought after Silda Spitzer stood by her husband's side in that hideously embarrassing press conference where he resigned after having been with a prostitute, I thought that was the last we would see of the long-suffering woman victim, good wife character. But when Houma did this, it was sort of beyond the pale and I think it made everybody sort of say, "What's wrong with her? Why is she doing this?" And I have some ideas.</s>BROWN: But to be fair, Sally, you know, he's the one that behaved in that way. He's the one that's running for mayor, not her. Why does the wife of these embattled politicians take so much heat? Do you think she made it worse going up to the podium and talking?</s>QUINN: I think it was terrible. I think that first of all she had never - should never have said - allowed him to run again. Just because she knew that this would happen. It would not only bring up the old stories but the new old stories and that she was - as a role model for women, particularly in this century at this time when women are making such strides for her to put herself back in this completely retro position is just appalling. I think she's hurting women everywhere when she stands up and acts this way and the only reason I can think that she's doing this is because she wants the power as much as he does. I really think that she - you know, with all those years being Hillary's assistant or associate with the flags and the limos and the private planes and the here comes the chief and "hail to the chief" and whatever, I think she got a taste of it and I think she thought when she married him she was marrying another Bill Clinton, of course, he was not another Bill Clinton. He was really very disliked on Capitol Hill. He was an ambitious guy but I think she put in for that because she had gotten used to that kind of life and I think she wanted it and wants it as much as he does. That is the only possible explanation I can come up with for why she would do this. And why she would put herself through this.</s>BROWN: So you think her own political aspirations might be behind this?</s>QUINN: I do.</s>BROWN: Sally, just quickly, I want to read something - I was reading</s>QUINN: No! I mean I think that's what she is. That is an actual fact. And I think that the best thing for her to do if I were giving her my advice is if she wants that kind of a life is to dump him and run for office herself. I mean, that's the only way I can see that she can reinvent herself and to get out of this horrible mess and the only way to see that she is ever going to make this OK for her children.</s>BROWN: I have to - I have to ask very quickly, Sally, in light of what you said, you know, we've heard Anthony Weiner come clean about the fact more pictures could surface but not about the time line here and the scope of his actions. In light of that, do you think that his donors should feel duped?</s>QUINN: I can't imagine having giving him money in the first place but as Karen Tumulti wrote in "The Washington Post" this week, she has been trying to raise money from Hillary's donors and putting, you know, putting a lot of pressure on them and they don't want to alienate Hillary because they know that she is so close to Houma. So they are giving money to Anthony Weiner just to stay in good with Hillary. And Houma obviously knows that and is taking advantage of that. So, I mean, she's savvy. She's very politically savvy and she knows what she is doing.</s>BROWN: She is politically savvy and to be fair, relationships, marriages are complex. Especially when you have a child involved so it's easy to judge and we'll see how this all plays out. Sally Quinn, thank you for offering your opinions. We appreciate it.</s>QUINN: Thank you.</s>BROWN: Well, a tense standoff in Egypt. Supporters of the country's ousted president refuse to leave the streets after a day of deadly clashes with police. We'll have a live report of Cairo coming up.