Who is Huma Abedin? She has been dubbed “The Good Wife”. Why? She is standing by her husband Anthony Weiner in spite of new revelations about his online communications with a twenty-something woman. As we all know Anthony Weiner was involved in the Twitter Photo scandal in June 2011, bringing unwanted media attention on his wife.
On Tuesday, July 23, 2013, Huma spoke at a press conference making it clear that she was going to remain committed to her marriage and supportive of her husband who is currently running in the New York City mayoral race.
Huma was born in Kalamazoo, Michigan. When she was two years old, her family moved to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Both her parents were educators. Her father, Syed Zainul Abedin, was born in India in 1928, was an alumnus of Aligarh Muslim University, and later received his Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania. He died in 1993. Her Pakistani mother, Saleha Mahmood Abedin, also received her Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania, and is currently an associate professor of sociology at Dar Al-Hekma College in Jeddah. Huma returned to the United States to attend George Washington University.
Huma began working as an intern for the White House in 1996 and was assigned to Hillary Rodham Clinton and is currently a director working on the transition team of Mrs. Clinton. She served as traveling chief of staff and “body woman” for Clinton during Clinton’s campaign for the Democratic nomination in the 2008 presidential election.
In 2010 Huma was included in Time’s “40 under 40”, a list of a “new generation of civic leaders” and “rising stars of American politics”. Clinton had high praises for her, stating in a speech, “I only have one daughter. But if I had a second daughter, it would [be] Huma.”
Huma is not a stranger to unwanted attention. Her Muslim faith came under attack on June 13, 2012 when allegations about her were raised by Congresswoman Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.), Congressman Trent Franks (R-Arizona), Congressman Louie Gohmert (R-Texas), Congressman Tom Rooney (R-Florida), and Congressman Lynn Westmoreland (R-Georgia) who sent a letter to the Deputy Inspector General of the Department of State, Harold W. Geisel, requesting an investigation into the influence of anyone associated with the Muslim Brotherhood on State Department policy, citing a study by the Center for Security Policy, a principal proponent of Muslim Brotherhood conspiracy theories, that said that Abedin “has three family members–her late father, her mother and her brother–connected to Muslim Brotherhood operatives and/or organizations”.
Republicans John McCain (R-Ariz.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Scott Brown (R-Mass.) and Ed Rollins defended Abedin against these allegations. John McCain stated, “These allegations about Huma and the report from which they are drawn are nothing less than an unwarranted and unfounded attack on an honorable woman, a dedicated American and a loyal public servant… The letter and the report offer not one instance of an action, a decision or a public position that Huma has taken while at the State Department that would lend credence to the charge that she is promoting anti-American activities within our government… These attacks on Huma have no logic, no basis and no merit. And they need to stop now.” Speaker of the House John Boehner was right when he said that these accusations about Huma were “pretty dangerous” because she and her family were place under police protection when they were threatened by a New Jersey man as result of this controversy.
Huma married Anthony on July 10, 2010. A year later she was subjected to his social media scandal. Prior to their marriage Anthony had revealed his online relationships to her. According to Anthony, when Huma learned of the new revelations, she “was very unhappy, she was very disappointed, and she told me as much. And she also told me that she loved me and we’re going to get through this.”
Notes to Women salutes this honorable woman, dedicated mother and loyal wife. We wish her all the best and hope that Anthony will do whatever he needs to do to preserve his marriage.
Notes to Women 