Obama: If I were Weiner, I’d resign

President Obama said Monday that he would step down if he were in Rep. Anthony Weiner’s shoes, questioning the congressman’s ability to continue serving his constituents amid “personal distractions.”

The White House had just hours earlier broken its silence on the Weiner affair, saying the New York Democrat’s personal drama was diverting attention from important issues like the economy. A spokesman stopped short, however, of the same explicit demand for Weiner’s resignation that had come this weekend from other senior Democrats.

In an interview with NBC’s Ann Curry, Obama chose his words carefully.

“Ultimately there’s going to be a decision for him and his constituents,” he said. “I can tell you that if it was me, I would resign.”

Public service, Obama continued, “is exactly that, it’s a service to the public. And when you get to the point where, because of various personal distractions, you can’t serve as effectively as you need to at the time when people are worrying about jobs and their mortgages and paying the bills, then you should probably step back.”

The Weiner saga has put fellow Democrats in a difficult position as members of the House returned to Washington from a weeklong recess. On Saturday, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) and Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.), chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee, called on Weiner to step down.

But Weiner’s office instead said he would seek a leave of absence from Congress while he seeks treatment “to focus on becoming a better husband and healthier person.” His wife, Huma Abedin, is still overseas traveling with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Also Monday, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) said that Democrats “should do everything they can” to force Weiner to step down. He suggested that Pelosi strip Weiner of his committee assignments; other Republicans say she could reject his request for leave, typically a formality.

A senior Democratic aide said the GOP was using the Weiner scandal to shift attention away from its economic agenda.

“The bottom line is that Rep. Weiner should resign, and the GOP is engaged in a pathetic attempt to grab headlines in order to distract from their no-jobs agenda,” the aide said. “It’s been 160 days since the GOP took control of the House, and Americans are still asking: Where are the jobs, House Republicans?”

Kathleen Hennessey contributed to this report.