After putting off his resignation for as long as possible, Democratic Rep. Anthony Weiner officially stepped down on June 28th, 2011 in the wake of his sex scandal. After first trying to lie about his scandal, Weiner finally came clean about his sexually scandalous online communications in which he sent lewd photos of himself to women he befriended on Facebook and Twitter. Many of his colleagues encouraged him to resign, including President Barack Obama and House Speaker John Boehner (Bash). .
Weiner briefly addressed reporters and apologized "for the personal mistakes I have made and for the embarrassment I have caused" to his neighbors, to his constituents, and "particularly to my wife." He added, "Unfortunately, the distraction that I have created made it "impossible" to continue working in Congress. He then made a public announcement at a community center in his home district (Bash). .
Before the scandal went public, Weiner was considered a front-runner to succeed New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg in 2013. .
His resignation was answered with very mixed feelings. "Congressman Weiner exercised poor judgment in his actions and poor judgment in his reaction to the revelations," said House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-California, who encouraged Weiner to step down. "Today, he made the right judgment in resigning" (Bash). .
Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York, who was also Weiner's political mentor, said that Tuesday was a sad day and that Weiner "was an effective and passionate advocate for the people he represented in Brooklyn and Queens" who "served his community, city, and country well for over two decades" (Bash). .
Others still remained neutral but commented that Weiner had become a distraction (Bash).
Democratic Rep. Steve Israel, D-New York, said that Weiner's decision to resign "is right for him and his family, our party, and our country because we have serious work to do in Congress.