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Sad Anthony Weiner Says He's An "Empty, Soulless Vessel"
By
Ben Yakas
Published Oct 17, 2013
Modified Oct 17, 2013
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By
Ben Yakas
Published Oct 17, 2013
Modified Oct 17, 2013
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The clock may be resting perilously at 14:59, but Anthony Weiner is still finding ways to stay in the public eye, whether it means submitting to interviews with Sean Hannity or throwing tantrums over little kid's pee. GQ has the latest look at the former candidate, and it may be the saddest peek into the Carlos Danger's psyche yet—it's one in which he calls himself "an empty, soulless vessel," arrogantly dismisses the reporter, and clings onto the notion that he was just not born at the right time to be mayor: “And maybe if the Internet didn’t exist? Like, if I was running in 1955? I’d probably get elected mayor.”
The piece, "The Year of Living Carlos Dangerously," pointedly starts with reporter Marshall Sella offering Weiner his theory about sexting and the hypocrisy of the electorate: "Weiner mulled over my generational theory, then called it 'overly simplistic,' which is what people always say when they want to gain the intellectual high ground on a topic." Even after he's been ridiculed in public for his arrogance, even with the opportunity to put a final spin in one of the last post-mortem pieces on his failed campaign, Weiner can't help himself.
Weiner admits he rationalized the sexting ("I thought, ‘This person’s my friend. Why would they turn on me?’") and that he and wife Human Abedin have had "a very rough time" of it lately, but he clams up when asked if they're staying together:
“One thing I’m grateful for is that now I’m under no obligation to answer anything like this,” he said. “But we’ve had a very rough time. It causes me a great deal of pain in the way she gets reported and the way she gets discussed. Her treatment in the press has been rough. It pains me because I deserve it. She doesn’t.
“I duck it as best I can,” he added, “but her reputation has become the Woman Who Married an Idiot and Stuck with Him. More of it rolls off my back, because that’s the way I am constitutionally. She’s more sensitive. I’m just an empty, soulless vessel, so it doesn’t hurt me as much.”
Weiner delivered that last remark with an utter lack of humor.
The whole piece is interesting, if also absolutely depressing. If you're looking for something to cheer you up after that, please read this delightful GQ interview with Noel Gallagher, in which he finally tells off those pretentious people who like reading and writing books: "The winner of the Pulitzer Prize [for fiction]. What a c***. Whoever that is, has got to be. I don't get it. Book sellers, book readers, book writers, book owners - f*** all of them."
Tagged
anthony weiner
depressing
human abedin
Politics
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Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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