Former U.S. presidential candidate had child with mistress, says he’ll take “love and support” her
John Edwards has publicly stated that he fathered a child with Rielle Hunter, the campaign videographer with whom he admitted to having an affair in 2008. Edwards announced that he’s the father of Frances Quinn Hunter in written a statement to NBC, where he said, “I will do everything in my power to provide her with the love and support she deserves,” and that, “it was wrong for me ever to deny she was my daughter,” referring to claims he made in 2008 that the timing of events made it impossible for the child to be his. The admission follows the release of a political expose detailing the affair, and comes just ahead of a tell-all book written by Andrew Young, a former campaign worker who had once claimed to be Frances Hunter’s father. However, Harrison Hickman, a friend of Edwards who spoke on his behalf, said the former senator was only waiting to go public until legal issues surrounding the child were resolved, and that the expose and book didn’t affect his decision. Edwards’ wife, Elizabeth Edwards, who has incurable breast cancer, has stuck with her husband since the affair came to light. But NBC is now reporting that family friends say the two have separated, at least temporarily.