Anthony Weiner Won't Fire Foul-Mouthed Communications Director, Barbara Morgan

As expected, Anthony Weiner, still running his scandal-plagued campaign for mayor, is standing by his foul-mouthed communications director, Barbara Morgan:


In an interview with TPM that she says she thought was "off the record," Morgan called a former intern for the Weiner campaign who went public about the "thin resumes" of the people working for Weiner a "fucking slutbag," a "cunt," and "a fucking twat" who should "see if you ever get a job in this town again.”

Today, Morgan put up a picture of a "swear jar" on her Twitter account and said she had to make good for the bad language.

With Morgan continuing to work for the Weiner campaign, the universe has apparently rendered punishment.

Could there be much worse than trying to flack for a politician who has been counted lying 68 times in one 8 minute stretch?

Meet Barbara Morgan, Anthony Weiner's Foul-Mouthed Communications Director

As I posted last night, Anthony Weiner's spokesperson, Barbara Morgan (a former DOE employee who worked for Joel Klein) went on an epic rampage yesterday to TPM, ripping a former intern for the Weiner campaign in a profanity-laced rant that would make a marine blush.

The New York Daily News has more on Morgan's tirade today:

Anthony Weiner's communications director trashed a former campaign intern Tuesday in a shocking, profane rant published by a news blog.

Barbara Morgan said Tuesday night that she thought she was “off the record” when she repeatedly called Olivia Nuzzi a “slutbag,” “t--t” and “little c---.”

Morgan was reacting to a column Nuzzi wrote Tuesday exclusively for the Daily News. The college student wrote that some Weiner staffers signed on to the sexting scandal-starred Democrat’s campaign because they thought it might help them land future work with Hillary Clinton.

Nuzzi wrote that there were “a lot of short résumés” among campaign staffers and said Weiner mistakenly called her and several other interns “Monica.”

It was the particular jab on staffers’ job credentials that particularly riled Morgan up.

“You know what? F--- you, you little c--t. I’m not joking, I am going to sue her,” Morgan ripped back to Talking Points Memo Tuesday while calling Nuzzi a “f---ing slutbag" who repeatedly didn't show up during her four weeks as an intern.

"Of those twenty days, she missed probably five because she would just like not show up and not tell me she wasn’t going to be there," she told the blog. "She sucked. She like wasn't good at setting up events. She was clearly there because she wanted to be seen."

Only adding fuel to the fire was seeing Nuzzi's front-page spread with the Daily News — one she sarcastically complimented as a "nice f---ing glamour shot."“I’m dealing with like stupid f---ing interns who make it on to the cover of the Daily News even though they signed [non-disclosure agreements] and/or they proceeded to trash me,” Morgan told TPM. “And by the way, I tried to fire her, but she begged to come back and I gave her a second chance.”

Another day, another crisis for the Weiner campaign.

Morgan, who used to work for Joel Klein at the DOE and obviously knows her way around profanity, misogyny and employee abuse from her tenure with Klein, ought to be fired for this episode.

But Weiner can't fire her because no one else will take her place.

On the flip side of that equation, after Morgan's work for the disaster that is the Weiner campaign and now her 15 minutes of fame calling a former intern a "fucking slutbag," a "twat," and a "cunt," Morgan may not be on anybody else's short list for a job either.

Weiner's Spokesperson Calls Former Intern A "Slutbag" And "Bitch" In An Interview With TPM

In case you missed the latest Weiner news this morning, the Daily News interviewed a former intern for the Weiner campaign who told some stories about what a lame person Anthony Weiner is and how amateur his operation is.

Considering the kind of news the Weiner campaign has been dealing with lately, the intern interview with the Daily News was pretty tame and not all that damaging to Weiner's candidacy.

Until tonight, that is:

Anthony Weiner’s spokeswoman, Barbara Morgan, issued an apology tonight after a profanity-laced interview with Talking Points Memo, in which she described a former campaign intern as a fame hungry “bitch” and “slutbag” who “sucked” at her job.

Ms. Morgan said that she believed the conversation, in which she also threatened to sue the young woman, was off the record.

“In a moment of frustration, I used inappropriate language in what I thought was an off the record conversation,” Ms. Morgan said in a statement. “It was wrong and I am very sorry, which is what I said tonight when I called and emailed Olivia to apologize.”

Ms. Morgan’s tirade came following a piece in the Daily News today, in which the former intern, Olivia Nuzzi, panned the campaign, reporting that many staffers had only joined to curry favor with Mr. Weiner’s wife, Hillary Clinton aide Huma Abedin. She’d also dissed Ms. Morgan and other staffers’ “short résumés.”

...

Ms. Nuzzi declined to comment on Ms. Morgan’s comments or apology, but changed her description on Twitter to read, “Slutbag, twat and cunt. Writer for NSFWCORP.” Politicker has reached out to TPM for comment and will update when we receive a response.

Per Norm Scott, Barbara Morgan, Weiner's spokesperson, used to work for Joel Klein at the NYCDOE.

Maybe that's where she learned to talk about fellow colleagues using that kind of language.

At any rate, the wheels are coming off the Weiner campaign and it really looks like it won't be long now before he knocks off completely.

Politcker reported earlier that Weiner is getting more and more agitated as the days go on and he's forced to run gauntlets of journalists and photographers at every campaign stop and forum.

Tonight there were twice as many press people as attendees for a forum on disabled issues. 

Politicker reports that Weiner was chased into the building, up and down stairs, through hallways and into the auditorium by press people, shouting questions and taking photos throughout the tumult. 

Once the forum started, Weiner got beaten up by a member of the audience over his Congressional record:

 After briefly discussing his plan for 2,000 wheelchair-accessible cabs and taxi stands in every zip code, Mr. Weiner, looking drained, was confronted by Philip Bennett, 57, a home care worker from Brooklyn.

“Mr. Weiner, when you were my congressman, you pledged your active co-sponsorship of a law to allow people with disabilities to live in their own homes rather than nursing homes,” said Mr. Bennett, referring to the Community Choice Act, which Mr. Weiner quickly indicated he recognized.

“One year later,” continued Mr. Bennett, “you withdrew your sponsorship. You claimed you had something better. You didn’t tell me what it was. And no one on your staff knew what it was, Mr. Weiner.”

And then came an oft-repeated question: “Frankly, I have to ask: How can I trust you?”

Mr. Weiner, who spent much of his time between answers siting with his feet crossed at the ankles, his hands in his pockets and slumped in his chair, said he wasn’t sure what had happened to the bill, and immediately changed the subject, touting his plans for a single-payer healthcare system for New York City, the money it would save, and denouncing recent hospital closures. His was the only campaign, he argued, talking about such bold reforms.

But the answer was entirely unsatisfying for Mr. Bennett, who said he suffers from an “invisible” emotional disability.

“He knew exactly what the Community Choice Act is,” he told Politicker bitterly after Mr. Weiner had left the stage. “We worked long and hard about it … And then told me that he had this pie-in-the-sky idea of some other legislation that was better than the Community Choice Act.”

“Never happened,” he said of the bill, which would guarantee people eligible for nursing homes the option of receiving nursing care at home instead. The bill remains stalled in Congress to this day.

Then the forum was over and Weiner ran the press gauntlet again, ignoring the questions yelled at him as he dashed for his campaign SUV.

Weiner used to enjoy his time on the campaign trail and the schtick he got to do at candidate forums, standing up and gesturing while he talked about issues.

Now he's spending most of his time avoiding the press and getting beaten up by voters.

I know the conventional wisdom is that Weiner is going to stay in this campaign no matter what because he has nothing to lose, but unless the vibe along the campaign trail changes, I don't see how Weiner can keep this up without spontaneously combusting.

With many press outlets picking up the story today that Weiner evaded a question from Daily News columnist Denis Hamill on whether he was sexting anyone at the current time and now the "slutbag" story involving his spokesperson, I suspect tomorrow isn't going to get any better for him on the campaign trail.

We'll just have to see if he wants to continue to play head clown in the three ring media circus for the next 40 days.