Edwards Admits Sexual Affair; Lied as Presidential Candidate
In an Interview With "Nightline," Edwards Reveals He Cheated, But Didn't Father Child
Edwards said he knows he could not be the father based on the timing of the baby's birth on February 27, 2008.
A grainy photo that appears to show Edwards holding a child was published recently in the National Enquirer, which claimed that the baby was Rielle Hunter's child Frances Quinn. Edwards said he couldn't make "sense" of the photo.
"I don't know if that picture is me," Edwards said. "It could well be. It looks like me. I don't know who that baby is. I have no idea what that picture is."
Pressed to clarify whether the child in the picture was Hunter's child, Edwards suggested that the tabloid may have digitally altered the picture, but also noted the frequency with which politicians hold babies. "Do you know how many pictures have been taken of me holding children in the last three years? I mean it happens all the time."
Edwards was asked again about the meeting.
"Are you saying you don't remember holding that child of Miss Hunter?"
"I'm saying you asked me about that photograph. I don't know anything about that photograph, I don't know who that baby is. I don't know if the picture has been altered, manufactured, if it's a picture of me taken some other time, holding another baby…I have no idea. I was not at this meeting holding a child for my photograph to be taken I can tell you that."
Edwards finally told Woodruff that he did not remember a baby being present at the meeting last month in California.
Edwards blamed the affair on the adulation surrounding his remarkable rise into presidential politics.
"I went from being a senator, a young senator to being considered for vice president, running for president, being a vice presidential candidate and becoming a national public figure. All of which fed a self-focus, an egotism, a narcissism that leads you to believe that you can do whatever you want. You're invincible. And there will be no consequences."
According to friends of Hunter, Edwards met her at a New York city bar in 2006. His political action committee later paid her $114,000 to produce campaign website documentaries despite her lack of experience. Edwards said the affair began during the campaign after she was hired. Hunter traveled with Edwards around the country and to Africa.
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