On Thursday, the Washington Post reported that Weiner told a voter who called his rival Christine Quinn a "dyke" that it was okay that she had used the slur.
Here's the exchange:
The offense occurred in The Washington Post, which published a lengthy story Thursday on the mayor’s race that included this scene that described Mr. Weiner’s interaction with a voter on the campaign trail:
“You a registered Democrat?” he asked an elderly woman wheeling a shopping cart by him.
“I am,” she said. “And I’m not voting for uh, what’s her name? The dyke.”
“Okay. I just need you to sign the petition to get me on the ballot,” said Weiner, who then noticed the incredulous reaction of a reporter and added, “and you really shouldn’t talk that way about people.”
“Oh, I’m sorry,” the woman said.
“It’s okay,” Weiner responded. “It’s not your fault.”
Notice that it wasn't until Weiner noticed that the reporter covering Weiner on the campaign trail looked horrified at the exchange that he said anything negative to the woman.
It's pretty obvious from the exchange that he wouldn't have said an admonishing word at all had the reporter not been there.
This is a telling moment in the Weiner campaign for City Hall.
When Weiner first sent out his infamous Twitter photo, his initial reaction was to lie to the press and try to cover up the truth.
He didn't give up on the cover up until it became completely untenable to continue trying to tell lies.
That Weiner never felt the inclination to tell the truth about the incident until he absolutely had to tells you a lot about him as a person - namely that is dishonest at the core.
This homophobic slur incident is another excellent insight into Weiner as a human being.
His initial reaction, after the woman called Quinn a "dyke," was to ignore the slur and get her signature on his petition.
He didn't care a whit that she had used a homophobic slur.
It wasn't until he realized the reporter had seen how he didn't care a whit about the slur that he realized he had to react and lightly admonish the woman.
Just as his initial reaction in Twittergate was to lie, his initial reaction here was to ignore the slur and get what he needed from the woman - a signature on his petition.
Weiner has since apologized to Quinn directly, even calling her to tell her his side of the story, but as in Twittergate, his words are meaningless.
His actions are much more telling.
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