Huma Abedin says Hillary Clinton 'faced impossible standards': 'Almost like you couldn't win'
Huma Abedin tells "The View" hosts that Hillary Clinton "faced impossible standards" as a woman in politics and that it was "almost like you couldn't win."
Longtime Hillary Clinton aide Huma Abedin has joined MSNBC as a contributor.
Abedin, the former campaign vice chair for Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign, will join the "MSNBC and ‘Morning Joe’ family," Mika Brzezinski announced Friday on the liberal network’s morning program.
"I can’t tell you how excited I am," Abedin said.
Abedin has also worked with Clinton in a variety of other roles and is known to be close to the former Secretary of State and First Lady. Her political career with Clinton began in 1996 when she was an intern in her office at the White House. During an appearance on ABC News’ "The View" this week, Abedin said Clinton faced "impossible standards" as a woman in politics.
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Former vice chair to Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign Huma Abedin is now an MSNBC contributor. (Screenshot/ABC/TheView)
"All these impossible standards, you know, she needs to be taller, shorter, talk this way. This is annoying, you know, she looks angry when she speaks. It was almost like you couldn’t win no matter what you said," Abedin said.
She added that Clinton was never the "personality candidate" and no one ever questioned whether she was qualified.
Huma Abedin has worked with Hillary Clinton in a variety of roles and is known to be extremely close to the former Secretary of State. (Reuters)
"It was all of these other sort of excuses and I think it’s because we as a society, we cannot – that’s by the way both men and women, because women do decide elections in my opinion. We can’t see women as commander in chief. We close our eyes and you think of [a] president and you think of a man," Abedin said.
Abedin will also serve as vice chair of Brzezinski’s Know Your Value International Women’s Day Summit in Abu Dhabi.
Abedin was famously married to disgraced ex-politician Anthony Weiner when his career was derailed after a series of sexting scandals. He resigned from his New York congressional seat in 2011, then saw his New York City mayoral bid implode in 2013 after more allegations of inappropriate messages came forward.
Abedin initially stood by him but announced they were separating in 2016 after the New York Post published a story about more explicit texts, including a photo of Weiner, in his boxer briefs, in bed with his toddler son by his side. They are reportedly finalizing their divorce.
Anna Wintour, Hillary Clinton, and Huma Abedin pose backstage at the 2018 Glamour Women Of The Year Awards: Women Rise on November 12, 2018 in New York City. (Cindy Ord)
In 2017, Weiner was sentenced to 21 months in prison after he was caught sexting with a 15-year-old girl. He was released after serving 18 months.
Weiner's exploits played an indirect role in the 2016 election, as the seizure of his laptop in the investigation of his criminal sexting behavior set off a chain of events that led to then-FBI Director James Comey re-opening the investigation into Hillary Clinton's private email server. Clinton has repeatedly blamed Comey for her loss to Donald Trump.
Fox News’ Joseph A. Wulfsohn and Hanna Panreck contributed to this report.