NEW YORK — Huma Abedin, to a fascinated outsider, was always the graceful woman at the back, not speaking.
A loyal aide to her boss Hillary Clinton for 25 years, she was a constant companion. (Spoiler Alert: She still would. An ever-suffering spouse to Anthony Weiner, who caused her endless public shame through scandalous scandals. It was worse than we thought. Always present, but always silent.
Until now.
In an interview with The Associated Press, she says that “I’m ready to this” and almost literally rolls up her sleeves in anticipation for the publication of her memoir “Both/And a Life in Many Worlds,” Tuesday. Abedin, 46 years old, claims she is not nervous and that it’s a relief to finally tell her story after years of listening to others. “So, I feel really good.”
Abedin was born to Muslim academics in India and Pakistan, and raised in large part in Saudi Arabia. This book is just under 500 pages.
The book begins with her family. A special focus is on her father, her beloved late father. His advice regarding being true to yourself, written in a handwritten note and who died before she began college, is the first.
Clinton is second, Abedin’s husband, who has been her professional partner throughout her life. From the first lady years to Senate, the State Department, to that turbulent 2016 presidential campaign, and still today, Clinton is the third. The third section is the one that all readers will be able to quickly access: her husband. She doesn’t hold back in the book. She does the same in the interview.
(Photo by Christopher Smith/Invision/AP).
She says, “You know what? He broke my heart.” He tore it apart and stomped all over it. I was so ashamed, so lost, so alone.
The couple are not divorcing, despite many reports to the contrary. However, lawyers are still in the final stages of the divorce proceedings, Abedin claims — exactly 10 years after Weiner’s scandalous sexting. Abedin, a rising star in New York politics, had married Weiner a year before. She was in the first, blissful stages, of her pregnancy, when Weiner sent an inappropriate photo to his Twitter account that he intended for a woman.
He resigned as Congressman, but he launched a mayoral campaign two years later with a forgiving Abedin by his side. The scandal arose again, with more revelations about sexting under “Carlos Danger,” an infuriating documentary that reveals. (Abedin appears shocked throughout the film.)
The scandal broke again when Weiner was photographed next to their toddler son in a horrifying photo. Abedin declared a separation. However, the couple continued to live together in the same house on different floors. The tabloids and others politely asked why she stayed.
Abedin is now explaining. It was a lot to do with being a parent and making sure her son had both of them, especially after losing her father so young.
(Scribner via AP)
She told the AP that people can make their own judgements. But when you are IN it, you don’t think in terms of the grand scheme. “You’re just trying get through the day,” Weiner said. He was a hands-on dad who made meals, picked up and set up play dates. Their son needed him.
It is also interesting to know that Weiner was Abedin’s first love. She says, “He was my first love.” “He was the first man I’d ever been with. Once I became a mother, it was all about my child. My father was not going to be there for me, and neither was my child.
That same question, “Why stay?” — is still being asked. During the impeachment scandal involving Monica Lewinsky and her husband, Hillary Clinton was asked that same question. Abedin believes the world missed the obvious because it was too simple. “She did it because it was the right thing for herself and her family — as well as for her country.”
Abedin, when asked if she views the scandal differently using a #MeToo lense, responds that her loyalty was always to Hillary. Bill, however, said that there was no excuse for his actions. He would be the first one to admit that.
One episode from #MeToo has received a lot of attention but only takes up a few paragraphs. Abedin recounts how a U.S. senator invited him to his apartment for coffee, and then kissed her. He later apologized for her reaction, saying that he misunderstood her. Abedin doesn’t call it an assault and doesn’t identify the senator.
Abedin’s unwavering loyalty to Hillary Clinton has been a hallmark of her life. She recalls thinking early in her career that she would walk all the way to the end of the earth for Hillary Clinton. She replies, “You’ve stumped us!”
Except for certain fashion choices. A puffy, black coat Clinton seemed fond of, which Abedin didn’t like so much she tried to conceal it. Clinton took it with her to the inauguration and wore it.
Other funny moments are found in the book, such as the time the first Lady overslept and Abedin, who was charged with getting her day started, actually walked into the presidential bedroom. She shook her boss awake and also wakened the president, which caused a commotion and disturbed the president.
A woman approached Abedin in a shop and pointed to a newspaper photograph, which was also during a public scandal with Weiner. She was ready to make a sexist remark but was surprised when the woman said she thought she was Amal Clooney.
Abedin had become so used to bracing herself for bad news that she called her book “Bracing.” However, no amount of bracing could prepare her for the moment when her worlds collided with disastrous results, in late 2016. FBI director James Comey briefly reopened Clinton’s email investigation because Abedin emails were found on Weiner’s laptop during his sexting investigation.
Weiner was furious when Abedin said to him, “If she loses the election, it will because of you and I.”
She says that when Clinton lost, it was a “great trauma” that took her a long time to process. She finally came to the conclusion that Comey should bear the brunt of the loss, and not Clinton. She claims that Clinton never blamed her. Abedin also says that Clinton didn’t ask her for anything in the book to be deleted.
It is the most difficult part of the book to read, as well as the most painful. Her son was threatened and she was placed under child services investigation. Invitations to social events were canceled. One neighbor was upset that the couple had used the swimming pool in their home to celebrate their son’s birthday.
Yet, Abedin also includes a thank you in her book’s acknowledgments. To Weiner.
When she is asked why, she says that she believes that her husband , who was sentenced to prison in 2017 after sexting with a girl aged 15 years old, had an illness. She also explains that he was compulsive and not controllable.
She says he gave her a child — “my reason to live now”
Finally, and perhaps most importantly: It’s all about love. She says, “I know what it feels like to be loved.” It’s something I have experienced. It was brief, it was fleeting, but it was an extraordinary experience. He is the only person who has ever given it to me.
