Cockburn may be a devoted Valentine’s Day cynic, but he’s still all in for celebrity romance. He’s happy to hear that love is in the air between Huma Abedin, the former Hillary Clinton aide, and Alex Soros, son of George Soros and successor to his father’s Open Society Foundation. Conspiracy theorists worldwide will doubtless be sending their well wishes.
On Wednesday, Abedin and Soros posted pictures cuddled up on a Parisian Valentine’s date. The two sat at a restaurant table covered with gifts and roses. And more than seven years since her divorce from the disgraced Anthony Weiner and a scandal ridden marriage, Abedin deserves a romantic getaway.
Abedin, nearly ten years’ Soros’s elder, could not have hitched up with a more eligible operative. Last year, Soros was named heir to his father’s $25 billion Open Society Foundations and promised to be “more political” than his father — a feat Cockburn didn’t think was possible.
The thirty-eight-year-old still has a fun side, though. Just a few years ago, Soros was a playboy bachelor, throwing lavish parties at his 20,000-square-foot mansion. Between Abedin’s connection with Clinton and Soros’s fortune, the two will be an unstoppable political couple.
Just how close Abedin and Clinton were has always been a matter of speculation for those on the far right, especially Roger Stone. The former Trump consultant once claimed to the Palm Beach New Times that the two are secret lesbian lovers. “She and Huma Abedin sleep in the same room,” Stone said. “Bill told Gennifer Flowers — it’s in her book — ‘She’s eaten more pussy than I have.’ Those aren’t my words. Those are Bill’s words.” In another interview, Stone also wondered whether Abedin might be a “terrorist agent” for Saudi intelligence.
Before Soros, Abedin had a brief dalliance with Bradley Cooper. The two were set up by Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour, another high-profile, older woman with whom Abedin has a close relationship.
As for Weiner, Cockburn imagines he spent Valentine’s Day as he always does — alone with his phone. The two have shared an intimate relationship since Weiner was first accused of sharing explicit images with a twenty-one-year-old woman via Twitter in 2011. Later that year, he resigned from Congress, fessing up to sending images before and after his marriage to Abedin. In 2013, while running for New York mayor, Weiner faced additional accusations and admitted to sexting a few more times after leaving Congress. In 2016, Weiner pleaded guilty to one charge of transferring obscene material to a minor and served twenty-one months behind bars.
Cockburn hopes Abedin has chosen her new Wiener wisely.