Opinion: Rielle Hunter: ‘I’m still in love with Johnny’
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Just when you thought this soap opera couldn’t get any steamier, Rielle Hunter decides to break her four-year silence on her affair with once-promising presidential candidate John Edwards. She said she still loves the man she calls Johnny. ‘We love each other very much,’ she said.
The mother of their 2-year-old daughter, Frances Quinn -- who has been in hiding for much of the last four years -- told GQ Magazine that most of the candidate’s mistakes involved his fear over his wife Elizabeth Edwards’ reaction. Among the things Hunter said in the 10,000-word GQ piece:
Most of his mistakes or errors in judgment were because of his fear of the wrath of Elizabeth. He’s allowed himself to be pushed into a lot of things that he wouldn’t normally do because of Elizabeth’s story line. And the spin that she wants to put out there. He was emasculated. And you know, the wrath of Elizabeth is a mighty wrath.
Politically, what may be more significant is Hunter’s take on Andrew Young, the aide who fell on....
...a paternity sword for his candidate, pretending that he had fathered Frances Quinn and allegedly funneling campaign funds to her hideaway.
Hunter, who is fighting Young in court over a sex tape of herself and the candidate, said it was Young -- not Edwards -- who opted to claim paternity once the National Enquirer began asking questions about the affair. ‘I believe he loved Johnny more than he loved [his wife] Cheri,’ she said.
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From the beginning, Edwards seemed to understand the dangers of getting involved with the filmmaker.
“Falling in love with you could really f--- up my plans for becoming president,” she recalls him telling her.
Her reply: “If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans.”
Good advice for other presidential candidates in future campaigns. They, like you, can read the full interview here.
-- Johanna Neuman
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