If it wasn’t for the internet, Anthony Weiner would be the mayor of New York City. That is, of course, according to Anthony Weiner, who sat down with an interview with GQ magazine for its November issue.
In an interview that covered everything from sexting to the campaign trail, Mr. Weiner took time to discuss voters who empathized with him and the difficulty he had talking about his scandals in language they would understand: “A lot of times, when people said to me, ’You’re being pilloried,’ you could hear between the lines … You could hear, ’I do this, too,’ or ’I have this problem, too.’ But what difference does that make? I have to talk to voters in their own vocabulary about it. That’s hard.”
GQ writer Marshall Sella, who interviewed Mr. Weiner, suggested the problem with the former New York congressman’s sexting scandal was more a generational issue than one of morality.
People under 40 “can’t understand why it’s even frowned upon. Everybody does it all the time,” Mr. Sella said.
Mr. Weiner called the theory “overly simplistic,” but theorized that in a less technological age, his mayoral campaign would likely have been victorious.
“And maybe if the Internet didn’t exist?” he added. “Like, if I was running in 1955? I’d probably get elected mayor.”
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• Douglas Ernst can be reached at dernst@washingtontimes.com.
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