NYC mayoral candidate Anthony weiner got into a verbal battle with a man in a Brooklyn bakery Wednesday.
The man, identified as Saul Kessler, started the spat by yelling "You're a real scumbag" to Weiner.
Kessler also told Weiner he was 'married to an Arab.'
As CNN explains, the comment is an apparent reference to Weiner's wife, Huma Abedin, who works for Hillary Clinton. Abedin's late father was an Islamic scholar from India and her mother, a sociologist, is from Pakistan. Weiner is Jewish, as were most of those inside the Brooklyn bakery.
Weiner took to Twitter later to challenge a couple of critics of his behavior.
The former U.S. congressman turns around and yells at the man, "Yeah? It takes one to know one, jackass."
The man's "married to an Arab" comment can be heard in another video released by the Weiner campaign later Wednesday.
Weiner, who's Jewish, was buying sweet cake at the bakery ahead of the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashana, which began Wednesday at sundown.
Weiner, who quit Congress in 2011 after a sexting scandal that surfaced again this year during his campaign for mayor, later defended his behavior in the confrontation.
"Just because someone is running for office doesn't mean you have an unabridged right to say whatever vile, nasty thing you want," Weiner told reporters.
Polls show Weiner is a distant fourth among the Democratic candidates seeking to replace Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
—The Associated Press contributed to this story
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