Anthony Weiner made another stop on his mayoral campaign trail, sitting down with BuzzFeed editor-in-chief Ben Smith for a far-ranging interview full of awkward and cringeworthy moments, complete with an F-bomb.
Weiner chatted about his therapy routine, his increasing dislike of the press — including BuzzFeed and its "videos of cats, whatever it is you do at BuzzFeed" — and his plans for New York City following the mayoral race he's unabashedly confident he'll win.
"I didn't think for a second of canceling it," he said. "I haven't changed my schedule at all since things have gone in a different direction. Because part of what I'm trying to demonstrate with this campaign is what type of a mayor I'll be."
Though Weiner has grown increasingly (and obviously) annoyed with the press during his campaign, especially following his latest sexting allegations, he told Smith that he agreed to go through with the BuzzFeed event he'd scheduled before the scandal.
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Weiner didn't have particularly kind words for the press that has excoriated him during his campaign since the latest sexting allegations, even being dismissive of Smith and BuzzFeed at times.
"You can do this or show videos of cats, whatever it is you do at BuzzFeed," Weiner said.
He was harsher towards the New York Times. Though he used its magazine as a launching pad for his current campaign, he now says calls the newspaper "lazy," adding "New York Times, wait for it, doesn't want me to win" and "their heads are exploding over the idea."
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"I don't have fealty to them," he said echoing his new campaign ad. "I'm not treating the New York Times endorsement as an end in and of itself. They go out and write stories about the campaign dedicated to the color of my pants."
He then maintained that he couldn't pick Times publisher and chairman Arthur Sulzberger "out of a line up" before asking if he was even still alive.
Weiner also had harsh words for the current mayor, Michael Bloomberg, and his love of bike lanes in the city, saying "I once made a joke … And this was in the height of a lot of the controversy about the bike lanes. I said, 'The first thing I was gonna do as mayor was hold a press conference tearing out your– this goes to the internet, right? — tearing out your fucking bike lanes."
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Ultimately, we learned very little new information about Weiner in the nearly 40 minute chat. But we did learn a lot about his wife, Huma Abedin, and her good friend Hillary Clinton. Yes, Clinton is planning to run for president again in 2016. Weiner said Abedin will have a role in her campaign, though he wouldn't reveal what it was.
In the end, Weiner maintained that, despite his fourth-place showing in the Democratic mayoral candidate polls, he's certain he'll be New York City's next mayor.