State Sen. Karl Kruger (below), recipient of verbal beatdown from Rep. Anthony Weiner (top).
Posted on 04/29/2006 4:47:18 PM PDT by Liz
State Sen. Karl Kruger (below), recipient of verbal beatdown from Rep. Anthony Weiner (top).
Anthony Weiner's mother is probably reaching for the soap right now.
In a moment that went far beyond the usual frank dialogue among politicians, the Brooklyn congressman publicly laced into a fellow Democrat - using language that would make a sailor blush.
"Do you have a f------ problem with me?" the 2005 mayoral candidate said to state Sen. Carl Kruger at an annual Mill Basin fund-raiser Thursday night, witnesses said.Weiner, thought to be an early mayoral 2009 favorite, also called the Brooklyn senator a "p---y," witnesses said.
"I'm going to give you a bad hair day," Kruger shot back, apparently vowing revenge.
The exchange, which occurred in the lobby of Temple Shalom, was prompted by Weiner's fierce opposition to acting legend Paul Newman's proposal to bring Grand Prix-style racing to Brooklyn.
"They were screaming at each other. It got very close, chest to chest and nose to nose," said one shocked observer.
Kruger supports Newman's proposal to bring auto racing to the long-closed Floyd Bennett Field in Gateway National Recreation Area.
Weiner has called it "illegal."But what apparently annoyed Weiner was an earlier incident during an April 21 briefing on the Champ car project by Newman himself. At that briefing at the Brooklyn Marriott, witnesses said Kruger tore into a young Weiner staffer in front of the roomful of honchos after he conveyed Weiner's objections to the project.
"It was totally inappropriate. He was just a kid and Kruger started screaming at him in front of everyone," said a local pol who was at that meeting.
"Weiner was just giving it back to Kruger. If he did it to a member of my staff I wouldn't have waited a week," quipped the pol.
Weiner acknowledged he blew a fuse at the 41st Assembly District Democratic Club dinner, but stressed that it was over his staffer's treatment by Kruger."The conversation I had with Sen. Kruger, I'm sure made it very clear to him that I will not tolerate him abusing my staff," said Weiner." I don't recall using any profanity. However if the language was too salty for some ears I regret that."
"Kruger said he was "shocked" by the outburst and said that at the previous meeting he was just trying to send a clear message to Weiner through his staffer. "His temper is a known fact, but to act as he did in a temple in front of a host of community leaders, I thought was very inappropriate."
One attendee at the dinner acknowledged that staffers "had to close the door to the banquet room because the dinner was going on and everybody could hear it."
When Weiner ran for mayor last year, his mother, a retired public schoolteacher, occasionally appeared with him - making headlines once when she publicly corrected her son during an education speech.
Political consultant Hank Sheinkopf said he didn't think the eruption would hurt Weiner's career - but tangling with Kruger could pose problems.
"Weiner is showing he can't be pushed around and that's a fine thing, but Kruger ... tries to settle all scores behind the scenes," Sheinkopf said. "That's the way politics works in that part of Brooklyn."
Maybe if they gave Weiner the hot dog concession he would not oppose the plan?
That photo is getting uncomfortably close to 'armpit dogs'.
Weiner: There's a politician correctly named.
They sound like a lovely pair, but at least this Weiner guy stood up for his young staffer. Having it out with your peers is one thing but abusing junior employees is unforgivable.
LOL. Better ask for extra mustard.
Weiner looks like he just left a gay bathhouse.
That last line makes me laugh. Dude your name is WEINER(D) and your a tough guy?
re:your title,
Kruger is a dem and he's for the racetrack.
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F*****G profanity in the lobby of a Temple is what is unforgivable.
And traveling with one's mother will also get the tongues wagging.
What makes it even more certain, is that during his Mayoral run, Weiner tried to establish that women thought he was a "dreamboat."
ROTFLMCO.
They tend to have foul mouths, I notice.
i.e. Hillary
Really, is there any other kind of "bathhouse?"
Wanted to insert Dims "attack each other" over racing plan.......header protocol did not allow.
"F*****G profanity in the lobby of a Temple is what is unforgivable."
Damn right!
And they are against Paul Newman? The racetrack sounds like a great idea to me. Not that I'd go, but I'm sure many people would.
Get the popcorn, they are eating their own.
What is ROTFLMCO?
"Is there any other kind of bathhouse?"
Like, where men pair off with women. Yeah, right.
Oh, wait, I forgot. There is such a thing as a hetero bathhouse. It's called a Finnish sauna.
Gotta have something to do during those long Arctic nights...
Hope you took my note in the good spirit in which it was sent.
:-)
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