Trump Knew Weiner Was Nothing But Problems

The FBI announced Friday it was investigating new Hillary Clinton emails after uncovering previously undiscovered ones while investigating allegations that former Congressman Anthony Weiner had sent sexually explicit messages to a minor. While the Weiner revelation astonished a lot of people, there was one man not surprised to see it was Weiner dealing a major blow to Clinton's campaign. Throughout his presidential campaign, Donald Trump has repeatedly characterized Weiner as evidence of "Clinton's bad judgment." While Trump was wrong about climate change being a Chinese hoax, it seems the Republican nominee may have been right about Weiner all along.

Surprisingly, Trump has had a lot to say about Weiner over the years. In 2013, as Weiner's bid for mayor of New York City crumbled following his second sexting scandal, Trump took to Twitter with some advice for Weiner's wife, Huma Abedin, a longtime Clinton aide who now serves as the vice chair of her 2016 presidential campaign. "Huma should dump the sicko Weiner," Trump tweeted. "He is a calamity that is bringing her down with him."

In July 2015, Trump picked up his criticism of Weiner again shortly after announcing his presidential campaign, implying that Clinton was putting national security at risk by allowing Weiner access to classified information. "I mean her No. 1 person, Huma Abedin, is married to Anthony Weiner, who's a sleazeball and a pervert," Trump told reporters during a July 27, 2015 press conference. "And I'm not saying that, I mean that's recorded history, right? I don't like Huma going home at night and telling Anthony Weiner all of these secrets, OK?"

A few weeks later Trump took to Twitter to once again question how secure the country's classified information really was given Weiner's proximity to Clinton. "It came out that Huma Abedin knows all about Hillary’s private illegal emails," Trump tweeted Aug. 3, 2015. "Huma’s PR husband, Anthony Weiner, will tell the world."

Later that same month Trump called Weiner "a perve," "a bad guy," and "one of the great sleazebags of our time," all in the same speech during an Aug. 29 fundraising event in Massachusetts. "Do you think there's even a 5 percent chance she's not telling Anthony Weiner — now of a public relations firm — what the hell is coming across?" Trump asked. "Do you think there's even a little bit of a chance? I don't think so."

When Abedin announced she was separating from Weiner in light of yet another sexting scandal, Trump's campaign issued a statement from the presidential hopeful in which he equated Weiner as "just another example of Hillary Clinton's bad judgment." Trump credited Abedin with "making a very wise decision," and continued:

I know Anthony Weiner well, and she will be far better off without him. I only worry for the country in that Hillary Clinton was careless and negligent in allowing Weiner to have such close proximity to highly classified information. Who knows what he learned and who he told? It's just another example of Hillary Clinton's bad judgment. It is possible that our country and its security have been greatly compromised by this.

At the time, Trump's riffs on Weiner were seen as a bizarre swerve off message. Now, however, Trump's being credited with foreshadowing Friday's development and knowing exactly what kind of "bad guy" Weiner really is.