A Fox News interview with Anthony Weiner and Curtis Sliwa, who are starting a radio show together, got tense when host Sean Hannity opened up by asking Weiner if he has changed after serving 21 months in federal prison as a convicted sex offender.
Weiner paused before saying, “Well, I think so.”
ANTHONY WEINER AND CURTIS SILWA TO HOST TALK RADIO SHOW
“I don’t think anyone can go through that kind of experience — and I think this is probably true of people who have been through other types of adversity — I don’t think you go through that type of experience and not emerge changed,” Weiner added.
Weiner pleaded guilty to sexting a minor in 2017. He served 18 months of a 21-month prison sentence for sending obscene material to a 15-year-old and was required to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life. He was released in May 2019.
Weiner and Sliwa appeared on the show to promote their new weekly radio show, The Left vs. The Right, but the interview primarily focused on Weiner and his character.
“That’s an obscure answer. Either you know in your heart if you’ve changed, or you know in your heart if you didn’t change,” Hannity said. “Can you assure people? Because you’re going to now try and draw in an audience, and they’re going to want to know if you’ve changed. Have you changed?”
In response, Weiner said listeners can “judge for themselves” and argued that he wasn’t trying to persuade people to feel a certain way about him.
“I’m not out to persuade you or anyone else that I’ve changed. I’m doing a radio show, and people can call and ask me questions,” Weiner said. “No, I’m not trying to make someone like me or someone be persuaded of any particular outlook on me.”
Sliwa also defended his co-host, saying Weiner is “a good talk show host” and is “on solid ground.”
Both co-hosts have run failed New York City mayoral bids, and Weiner represented a New York City congressional district for many years. Sliwa also is a leader of the Guardian Angels and has volunteered to patrol subway cars and sidewalks to help stop violent crime.
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Former Hillary Clinton aide Huma Abedin married Weiner in 2010, and they have one son together. Abedin, who filed for divorce in 2017, reflects in her memoir Both/And on the “rage” she felt after Weiner shared a lewd photo with the world.
An investigation into Weiner revealed evidence concerning Clinton’s private email server, reopening an FBI investigation into Clinton just weeks before Election Day.
