According to former White House senior advisor David Axelrod, Anthony Weiner’s most recent sexting scandal will not hurt Hillary Clinton’s likely run for president in 2016.
Clinton has close ties with Weiner’s wife Huma Abedin, who served as Hillary’s deputy chief of staff at the State Department and as her travelling chief of staff and “body woman” during Hillary’s 2008 run for president.
Additionally, both Weiner and Clinton represent the state of New York as Democrats. Abedin has continued to stand beside her husband, despite the sexual scandal Weiner created.
“I think that three years from now this will be…a pimple on the ass of progress” for Hillary Clinton, Axelrod said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.” He joked that the off-color phrase was one of his favorite expressions.
Weiner is pushing forward in his bid for mayor of New York City, but since the most recent scandal, he has fallen in the polls.
“I feel terrible for Huma, who I think is a spectacular person. I know her very, very well. I don’t fault her,” Axelrod said.
Clinton has yet to formally announce her 2016 bid for the White House, but many people believe she will pursue the Democratic nomination.