Obama: If I were U.S. Rep. Weiner, I would resign

WASHINGTON, D.C. (BNO NEWS) — U.S. President Barack Obama on Tuesday said that, if he were U.S. Representative Anthony Weiner right now, he would choose to resign over the scandal.

Weiner, who has been the U.S. Representative for New York’s 9th district since January 1999, has been involved in a scandal known as Weinergate since he accidentally posted a sexually suggestive picture on the social networking website Twitter. The Congressman had meant to send it privately to a 21-year-old woman, but accidentally sent it to all of his followers on Twitter.

The politician, who was considering a run for Mayor of New York City, has admitted to exchanging sexually explicit messages and photographs with at least six women over a three-year period, both before and during his marriage with Huma Abedin, a senior aide to U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Both the White House and Obama had remained silent over the scandal, despite calls from a number of Democratic and Republican leaders for Weiner to resign. White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said on Monday that the White House believed the issue is a distraction. “Obviously as Congressman Weiner has said himself, the behavior was inappropriate; the dishonesty was inappropriate,” Carney said.

During the interview aired on Tuesday, Obama said Weiner’s conduct has been highly inappropriate. “I think he’s embarrassed himself, he’s acknowledged that, he’s embarrassed his wife and his family,” the president said.

“Ultimately there’s going to be a decision for him and his constituents. 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. “And 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.”

Weiner, who reportedly still has the support of his constituents, previously said he would not resign over the scandal. But recent media reports have indicated that Weiner might now be considering to resign as the pressure on him to step down continues to increase.

On Saturday, police in Delaware said they were investigating the online contact Weiner had with a 17-year-old girl. Authorities said there was no evidence of anything inappropriate, but the fact that Weiner had contact with a minor only increased calls for his resignation.

Weiner was granted a two-week leave with pay by the U.S. House on late Monday in order for him to seek professional treatment. But since the U.S. House will be in recess after that period, Weiner will actually have time off until July 5th.