For a guy whose latest poll numbers were his lowest yet in this mayoral race, Anthony Weiner is not trying very hard to get people to like him. When he’s not arguing with hecklers or insulting his opponent’s age, he’s apparently leading reporters and staff through the halls of a Harlem apartment building, dishing out insults and barbs all the while. The candidate who once led the Democratic field with 25 percent planning to vote for him and 49 percent open to the possibility now languishes in fourth, with just 10 percent still supporting him, according to a New York Times/Siena College poll on Thursday. Whether it was that, the indignity of Sydney Leathers endorsing Christine Quinn, or just this gross, clammy weather, Weiner was especially churlish in a campaign stop in Harlem Thursday night.
According to NBC News, which has the only published report on the event so far, Weiner mocked a British reporter’s accent, telling ITV’s Lucy Watson, “it’s hard to take you seriously,” and “I just have a feeling I like stepped into a Monty Python movie,” when she asked him about his campaign. Prior to that, he criticized a young staffer for the way his paperwork was organized: “This is no good, the way you have this organized. This is ‘NG,’ not great, not great.” And he took a shot at NBC News reporter Andrew Rafferty’s career choice:
“What are you working on?” he asked a reporter from NBC News before going up the elevators. When the reporter said he was following him to cover the campaign, he responded, “Dude, you got to get a hobby.”
Making matters worse, Weiner did not have a terribly successful canvassing visit, securing the support from “only a few voters,” per Rafferty. “I already said I didn’t want to meet you. Please stop knocking on my door,” one woman told him, according to Real Clear Politics’ Scott Conroy on Twitter.
Things may get worse for Weiner before they get better, as Watson says she has footage of him mocking her, apparently with a bad fake British accent. That has got to rival sexting as campaign gaffes go.
Update, 8:30 a.m.: Here’s the full interview with Watson. Watch through the end for Weiner’s British weather report:
