Rudy Giuliani completely, totally, maniacally loses it
It is amazing to read Time magazine’s portrayal of Rudy Giuliani as its Person of the Year 2001. In the wake of the 9/11 attacks, Time praised Giuliani for becoming the “voice of America,” and described how “millions of people felt a little better” when he spoke. In recent years, however, Giuliani has lost his way and his mind as he has vied for the role of Donald Trump’s most enthusiastic and deranged enabler.
This horrific week began with Trump humiliating himself by staging a dangerous and narcissistic response to peaceful protests in Lafayette Park while remaining proudly tone deaf to America’s needs. It ended with Giuliani, Trump’s already disgraced attorney, collecting any last shards of his integrity and throwing them swiftly into the incinerator.
On Thursday, Giuliani stayed up well past his bedtime to call into ITV’s “Good Morning Britain,” an inconvenience he was sure to whine about during his bonkers interview with Susanna Reid and Piers Morgan. Giuliani began by insisting that Trump has handled everything “exactly correctly” and that his client is the victim of harassment by the “left-wing media.” Then, Reid asked Giuliani about the appropriateness of Trump’s tweet warning that “when the looting starts, the shooting starts.” Even though Reid was referencing a direct quote, Giuliani accused her of left-wing media hatred.
Morgan jumped in to try to drive Giuliani off this insane narrative. “I’m sorry, but you’re talking total claptrap!” he scolded. “You keep saying it’s the left-wing media that has somehow misquoted President Trump.” Giuliani first responded by trying to argue that Trump’s quote was fine because there was no way he knew he was quoting a racist police chief in the 1960s—only to abandon that argument in favor of owning the quote, claiming, “That happens to be true! That happens to be an accurate statement!”
As Morgan pointed out, far from being a part of the “left-wing media,” he is well known for having been “very fair-minded” about Trump over the years. However, nothing could stop Giuliani’s descent into raving madness. The interview ended with Morgan wondering aloud, “What happened to you? You used to be one of the most revered people in America,” before calling him “completely barking mad!” As a parting shot, Giuliani accused Morgan of having “fucked up” his own career (some viewers believe he may have said “sucked up”), only to immediately gaslight viewers by insisting he never used foul language in that failed interview.
On Friday, Giuliani managed to make things even worse by appearing on Fox News’ “Bill Hemmer Reports.” He insisted that widespread police brutality is “really propaganda” that is part of a “left-wing narrative that is very, very false and very dangerous.” Adding insult to injury, Giuliani appeared to blame the black community for the problem he flippantly dismissed, implying it is somehow the natural result of too many phone calls to the police for help. “The reason that is happening is to protect the black community!” Giuliani smugly concluded. Is there such a thing as the bottom for this guy?
Ron Leshnower is a lawyer and the author of several books, including President Trump’s Month