New York City newspapers called Wednesday for mayoral candidate Anthony Weiner to bow out of the race after fresh revelations that he had continued sexually charged online chats for more than a year after his resignation from Congress.
Weiner, among the front-runners in the race for New York mayor, admitted on Tuesday he had continued sending lewd images of himself to women online — the very behavior that forced him out of office in 2011 — until at least last summer.
“The serially evasive Mr. Weiner should take his marital troubles and personal compulsions out of the public eye, away from cameras, off the Web and out of the race for mayor of New York City,” the New York Times wrote in its lead editorial, adding he had “disqualified himself” for public service.
The New York Post, known for its outrageous headlines, went with “Meet Carlos Danger” — a reference to Weiner’s reported pseudonym in the online chats with a woman he met over the Internet.
The Daily News joined the Times in calling for Weiner to get out of the race, saying on its cover: “Beat it! Enough of all the lies and salacious revelations. Weiner is not fit to lead America’s premier city.”
Weiner insists he isn’t going anywhere.
In an email to supporters on Wednesday, he said he should have been clearer how long the habit had persisted, and suggested that marital problems caused him to resume the behavior that cost him his last job.
“It was a terrible mistake that I unfortunately returned to during a rough time in our marriage,” he wrote.
“Before and after announcing my run for Mayor, I repeatedly answered every question about these mistakes. I was clear that these relationships took place over an extended period of time with more than one person. I regret not saying explicitly when these exchanges happened.”
Weiner’s latest troubles began on Monday after a gossip website called The Dirty published a series of sexually explicit messages and images an unnamed young woman said she received from Weiner, including photos allegedly showing the former congressman exposed.
She handed over numerous screenshots of what the website said were chats on Facebook and another social media website in which Weiner described the sexual acts he wanted to perform on her and which she apparently encouraged.
“You are a walking fantasy,” Weiner reportedly said, in one of the chat’s less explicit exchanges, which took place after the pair began communicating in July 2012, when the woman was 22.
Buzzfeed, a news and entertainment website, said it had identified a woman in her early 20s from Indiana as the source of the new chats, but the report could not be confirmed. Meanwhile, a woman who is identified in online profiles as Sydney Elaine Leathers has declined repeated requests to discuss the matter.
Nik Richie, the owner of The Dirty, said on Twitter that the woman would be “coming out soon,” suggesting she may publicly address new and embarrassing information about her relationship with Weiner.
Their racy online conversations began with an angry Facebook message, according to Richie. Not long after Weiner resigned from Congress, the 22-year-old woman reached out to express her disappointment in him.
Weiner responded and, within a week, their exchanges veered from politics to sex, with the pair trading dozens of explicit photographs, Richie said, although his account cannot be independently verified.
Weiner, who has been leading polls along with Christine Quinn, another Democrat, called a press conference on Tuesday to confirm the messages were authentic and that he would continue his campaign to succeed Michael Bloomberg as mayor.
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