The controversial former mayor of New York City, Rudy Giuliani, has been taken to hospital in a critical condition, US President Donald Trump said on his TruthSocial platform.
It is unclear why he is in hospital, and Trump, his longtime friend, used his post to attack their mutual enemies. Giuliani’s spokesman, Ted Goodman, also confirmed the news.
“Our fabulous Rudy Giuliani, a True Warrior, and the Best Mayor in the History of New York City, BY FAR, has been hospitalized, and is in critical condition,” Trump wrote on Sunday.
“What a tragedy that he was treated so badly by the Radical Left Lunatics, Democrats ALL — AND HE WAS RIGHT ABOUT EVERYTHING! They cheated on the Elections, fabricated hundreds of stories, did anything possible to destroy our Nation, and now, look at Rudy. So sad!”
Also unclear is how long he has been in hospital, although news agency Reuters reported that he had hosted his online news show, America’s Mayor Live, on Friday.
Reuters said that as he opened the show, he coughed and his voice sounded raspy.
“My voice is a little under the weather, so I won’t be able to speak as loudly as I usually do, but I’ll get closer to the microphone,” Giuliani told viewers.
Who is Rudy Giuliani?
The 81-year-old Giuliani first rose to prominence in the 1980s when, as a lawyer for the southern district of the state of New York, he indicted 11 senior members of the US Mafia, convicting most of them.
Seven Mafia heads were sentenced to 100 years in jail, while another, Paul Castellano, was murdered before the near two-year long trial was completed.
A Republican, he used the fame he had garnered from that trial to make an unsuccessful run for mayor in 1989, before he was successful on a second tilt in 1993.
But it was on September 11, 2001, that he would really come to international attention, when al-Qaeda terrorists attacked New York City, killing thousands.
“Tomorrow New York is going to be here. And we’re going to rebuild, and we’re going to be stronger than we were before … I want the people of New York to be an example to the rest of the country, and the rest of the world, that terrorism can’t stop us,” Giuliani said in the aftermath of the attacks.
Giuliani became a beloved figure in the United States and around the world in the years after the attacks.
He was named Time Magazine’s Person of the Year in 2001 and in February 2002, the late Queen gave him an honourary knighthood.
Following a period of time back in the private sector, he made an unsuccessful run for the Republican nomination for president in 2008.
Friendship and dealings with Donald Trump
Giuliani was an early supporter of Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign. There was some speculation that he was to be named attorney-general when Trump won but that never eventuated.
In 2018, Giuliani became one of Trump’s personal lawyers and helped the president deal with his legal troubles, including the impeachment efforts he faced regarding Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation and then the January 6, 2021 riots.
He also helped Trump with his private legal matters, notably making public statements on the case Trump had with former adult film star Stormy Daniels.
And following Trump’s loss to Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election, Giuliani was made the lead lawyer on Trump’s lawsuit relating to his claims that the election was rigged.
He faced criminal charges for his actions in the elections case, but Trump later pardoned him.
His association with Trump caused his approval ratings to plummet and in recent years, he has been given platforms mostly in Trump-friendly media.
In June of 2021, Giuliani had his law licence suspended by the state of New York.