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Obama on Weiner: 'I Would Resign'

But stops short of calling for congressman's resignation

By Polly Davis Doig,  Newser Staff

Posted Jun 13, 2011 6:00 PM CDT

(Newser) – President Obama is the latest top Dem to weigh in on Weinergate, stopping short of calling for the New York rep to step down, but telling an NBC interviewer that, "I can tell you that if it was me, I would resign. Because public service is exactly that, it’s a service to the public.” Obama added that Weiner had "embarrassed himself," and that his sexts were "highly inappropriate." The White House has heretofore called Weiner's scandal only "a distraction."

“When you get to the point where, because of various personal distractions, you can’t serve as effectively as you need to at the time when people are worrying about jobs and their mortgages and paying the bills, then you should probably step back," the president added. The interview with Ann Curry, which focused largely on the economy and not rogue congressmen, will air on tomorrow's TODAY show, notes NBC.

Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY) leaves a press conference after admitting to sending a lewd Twitter photo of himself to a woman and then lying about it.
Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY) leaves a press conference after admitting to sending a lewd Twitter photo of himself to a woman and then lying about it.   (Getty Images)
President Obama says if he were in Anthony Weiner's position he would resign.
President Obama says if he were in Anthony Weiner's position he would resign.   (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Queens residents hold a rally calling for the resignation of Rep. Anthony Weiner, D-NY, in front of his in New York office Sunday, June  12, 2011.
Queens residents hold a rally calling for the resignation of Rep. Anthony Weiner, D-NY, in front of his in New York office Sunday, June 12, 2011.   (AP Photo/David Karp)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 37 comments
cornelison
Jun 13, 2011 10:51 PM CDT
The Democrats know how to dish it out towards one of their own.  It would be more impressive if they did that to the GOP.
DieselDaWg
Jun 13, 2011 9:17 PM CDT
In another quote today, O'bama made a joke that was very telling on how he feels about his so-called recovery.  He was asked a serious question about the difficulty on the implementation of projects in this country vis a vis excessive regulation.  His response:  'Shovel-Ready Was Not as Shovel-Ready as We Expected'  . Oh well.... a trillion dollars in stimulus wasted and this tool makes a joke about the flacid response from the economy. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVonk_OqEUU&feature=share
brawne
Jun 13, 2011 9:00 PM CDT
Really--you'd resign?  You remind me of my ex who said I never cheated on you in twenty years and I said, yeah, you never robbed a liquor store either.  No one gets points for not doing something that they'd never do, anyway.  Personally, I like the guys who show their shit up front.  My ex never cheated on me--he let me put him through law school and have his babies and end up owing the IRS 150 thousand bucks.  I'd rather he'd put his dick up on the wall for everyone.  It wasn't much either.  Took me four years to have nothing and pay off his debt.  You think sex is so bad--you never dealt with broke.
 

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