5 Wildest Moments From Anthony Weiner’s Roller Coaster Interview with Adam Friedland

Comedian Adam Friedland opened the second season of his show with a bang by inviting on controversial former congresswoman Anthony Weiner, where they discussed everything from surviving prison to surviving sexting scandals in the roller-coaster sit-down.

Friedland, described recently by GQ as a “millennial Jon Stewart,” chatted with Weiner on The Adam Friedland Show about growing up in New York, his political downfall, and what exactly he’s up to today.

Weiner was once a celebrated, rising star in the Democratic Party, but he resigned from the US House of Representatives in 2011 amid a sexting scandal. In 2013, he attempted a comeback by running for mayor of New York, but yet another sexting scandal arose. In 2017, he was sentenced after being charged with transferring obscene material to a minor after sexting with a 15-year-old girl. Weiner is currently running for the New York City Council.

Here are the five wildest moments from his chat with Friedland.

IS ANTHONY WEINER RESPONSIBLE FOR DONALD TRUMP?

Weiner denied being the first step in a “butterfly effect” that led to President Donald Trump. Friedland referenced the fact that a probe into Hillary Clinton was reopened due to material found on a laptop belonging to him in 2016, leading up to her losing the election to Trump. Then-FBI Director James Comey said at the time that emails popped up in an unrelated case, leading many to point the blame at Weiner.

“The butterfly effect was not me, it was Comey, it was what Comey did with that,” Weiner said.

“He wouldn’t have had the laptop!” Friedland objected.

“My point is he could’ve had it for six months and held onto it. It was weeks. It was not that close to the election,” Weiner shot back.

“Still apart of the butterfly,” Friedland said.

Friendland accused Weiner of pushing a “ridiculous point” as the former congressman argued anyone else could have been the start of a “butterfly effect” of scandal.

“You’re dismissing it because James Covey could have used anything, but I’m saying what happened was he used your thing, so it’s still a butterfly effect!” Friedland said.

“You could say Hillary Clinton is the butterfly!” Weiner responded.

“I think she’s gorgeous,” Friedland threw back.

‘WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!’ WEINER STICKS UP FOR NANCY PELOSI’S STOCK TRADING

While speaking about Congress, Weiner argued only a handful of people in Congress are effective at actually pushing through legislation, and he saw early on that Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) was one of those people.

As Friedland joked about the controversial stock trading tied to Pelosi, he was floored to hear Weiner call Congress a “transparent” place and defend lawmakers trading stock while in office.

“Do you think that if you have an investment in something and there’s a piece of legislation that would threaten that investment, do you think that is conflict of interest?” Friedland asked Weiner.

“No,” Weiner said.

“What the fuck are you talking about?” a shocked Friedland asked.

“Because every fucking piece of legislation is incredibly public and anyone who’s investing based on pieces of legislation is not going to do very well,” Weiner argued.

Weiner told Friedland that his argument was too general, as most legislation would affect investments and he has a “bumper sticker knowledge of politics.”

“If you want to say that rich people become members of Congress, bounce off other rich people, have information and investment opportunities that normal Mrs. Krapaluci doesn’t have, 100% right,” he said. “But it has nothing to do with the work of Congress, with being in a committee and saying, hmm, this line 17 here, which no one can read, says that we’re going to start investing in AI, I’m going to go invest in AI. That’s bullshit.”

WEINER SQUIRMS AT MENTION OF SEXTING SCANDAL, CALLS OUT MATT ‘KID F**KER’ GAETZ

Weiner became clearly uncomfortable when his sexting scandals were brought up, even as Friedland argued that in today’s politics, the controversies would be nowhere near as controversial.

“It was a relatively slow news period, and I’m a guy named Weiner who tweeted out a picture of his dick,” Weiner said about his downfall.

“But Matt Gaetz fucked a kid,” Friedland joked.

“Right, and if his name was Matt ‘Kid Fucker’…” Weiner said.

Matt Gaetz faced a House ethics report that accused him of paying for sex and drugs, though the former congressman denied ever having inappropriate relations with a minor.

WEINER SPILLS ON SURVIVING PRISON

Weiner spent 18 months behind bars, and he does not recommend the experience. He spilled to Friedman on how he survived in prison, which included living with the “unit storeman” because nobody “fucks” with the storeman.

“I formed relationships with a lot of different elements inside, like there were guys at the prison library, these more senior black guys, and I would kibitz with them about what’s going on in Washington. I worked in the rec yard and so, you know, those guys I got a relationship with. I lived with the unit storeman,” Weiner said.

He explained that a “storeman” is someone who sells commissary when the commissary is closed.

“You can only go to the commissary every so often, but if someone wants to go watch a movie and they want to get a bag of chips. The store man will take care of you and I lived with that guy and no one really fucks with the storeman and so there were ways that I stayed safe,” Weiner said.

WEINER DOES NOT WANT TO SEE HIS WEINER DOCUMENTARY, BUT HE’LL GIVE YOU A RODNEY DANGERFIELD IMPRESSION

Weiner, at a few points, lost his patience with Friedland continually referring to the 2016 documentary, Weiner. The documentary was supposed to document Weiner’s comeback and return to politics, but another sexting scandal exploded while filming was happening, and things drastically changed.

Friedland apologized at the end of the interview for bringing up the documentary, but he touched on a lighter moment when Weiner did an impression of late comedian Rodney Dangerfield. It took some convincing, but Weiner pulled out the impression, including, “The other day I was at a bar, bartender says, ‘what do you want,’ I say, ‘I don’t know, surprise me,’ he shows me a naked picture of my wife. I get no respect.”

Check out the laughs below.

Watch above via The Adam Friedland Show.