Huma Abedin Recalls The Moment Her Life With Anthony Weiner Fell Apart
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Huma Abedin is sharing her heartbreaking and very publicized experience with her ex-husband's many transgressions. Former U.S. Congressman Anthony Weiner was at the center of national attention in May 2011 when a lewd image of a man in his underwear was posted to his Twitter, according to CNN. He flip-flopped on his story, and later admitted that the incident was not caused by a hacker — he, in fact, had been engaging in online relationships with other women. The news came days before word got out that Weiner and Abedin were expecting their first child.
This triggered a slew of leaked inappropriate sexts and photos, obliterating Weiner's political career. When it was revealed that he had similar interactions with an underage girl, it landed him in federal prison, per The New York Times. The storm of scandal boiled over for Abedin, who had stayed by his side up to this point, in 2016 when the New York Post published a photo that Weiner sent to another woman.
Weiner sent the sexually-charged message while his and Abedin's son slept in the bed beside him. Abedin appeared on CNN's State of the Union and said, "I did finally reach my breaking point, because that was the point where for so long ..." she explained. "I was saying, 'I don't understand. I don't understand. Why can't you just knock it off?' And this was my final straw." With her new memoir, Abedin is sharing a vulnerable glimpse into the chaos.
Huma Abedin's fairytale life exploded
Huma Abedin spoke about the moment things went south with Anthony Weiner on the January 25 episode of "The Drew Barrymore Show." She revealed, "I thought I did everything right. I waited for the perfect man ... He swept me off my feet, when I was with him I felt like nothing could ever go wrong." Abedin referenced a story from her book "Both/And: A Life in Many Worlds," about "waking up in Buckingham Palace, writing a letter to my new husband, saying 'How is it possible for life to be this perfect?' ... Three days later, everything fell apart."
Once Weiner's scandal broke, Abedin recalls receiving kind words of support from the White House Deputy Chief of Staff on the plane ride home. She noted that the sky was fittingly dark. Abedin's devastation took a momentary backseat to her professionalism as she responded with, "Please just tell the president I'm so sorry for embarrassing the administration this way."
People have been so curious about Abedin's decision to stay married to the disgraced congressman for as long as she did, but her memoir sheds light into her state of mind. She told The Guardian, "I know that people want to make this comparison [to Hillary Clinton staying with Bill Clinton] because it seems to the outside world so similar, but to me it wasn't." She, like so many others experiencing heartache to a public degree, explained, "I needed the time."