Weiner Ad Features Current, Former Interns As 'Regular New Yorkers'

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS: Joel Acevedo, 18, who speaks in Anthony Weiner’s newest video released today, fails to mention that he is also an intern for the campaign. Some of the “regular New Yorkers” featured in Anthony Weiner’s latest television ad are actually people who’ve worked for him.

The 30-second TV spot that Weiner’s mayoral campaign released Tuesday features four New Yorkers representing four different boroughs who offer four different reasons for why they’re supporting the scandal-scarred former congressman for mayor. But the so-called “regular” New Yorkers include Joel Acevedo, an 18-year-old from Staten Island who currently works as an unpaid Weiner intern. The CUNY student lists his employers on his LinkedIn page as Macy’s and “Anthony Weiner for Mayor.” In the ad, he doesn’t mention his work for Weiner or reveal what he does for him. He looks at the camera and says, “As an 18-year-old, first time voting, I decided to vote for the future of New York.” He calls Weiner “the kind of fighter we need, in New York City and in the mayor’s office.”

Anthony Weiner, a former frontrunner in the mayor’s race, has lost support since new sexting allegations surfaced last month. He features current and former staffers among the ‘regular New Yorkers’ in a new TV spot Also featured is Mary Elizabeth Elkordy, from Queens, who gushes in the ad that “no other candidate really talks about the middle class,” and adds that if the other candidates have started talking about the middle class “it’s only because Anthony Weiner came into this race.” Elkordy, according to her LinkedIn and Twitter pages, works as a producer for the Geraldo Rivera Show but served as a Weiner fundraising intern from December 2008 to June 2009, when Weiner was in Congress.

The ad is one of the first for Weiner that features New Yorkers speaking on his behalf. Previous ads, especially since his campaign imploded amid new sexting revelations, have largely featured only the candidate. Weiner, who briefly topped the polls in the mayor’s race, has been languishing in fourth place in recent polls. Weiner spokeswoman Barbara Morgan said of the ad, “They are all real live supporters who have chosen Anthony Weiner.” She pointed out that none of the people in the ad were ever paid by Weiner.