Rudy Giuliani.Photo: Anthony Devlin/Getty
While examining how Americans' view ofRudy Giulianihas plummeted over the past 21 years, a senior data reporter for CNN was left stunned on the air.
“Look at this — a drop of 60 points over the last 21 years,” reporter Harry Enten said on the network during arecent segment. While he spoke, a graphic displayed Giuliani’s favorability shortly after leaving the office of New York City mayor in 2002 (a stellar 76%) beside his favorability amid his present-day legal battles (16%).
Enten continued: “I’ve never seen anything like this. I remember when Rudy was a hero in the city in New York, and look at what he is now. He is, for most Americans, just a disgrace — at least, according to the polling data.”
Rudy Giuliani speaks about his legal challenges for the 2020 presidential election results, in which Donald Trump and his allies refused to accept defeat.Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty
The man once known as “America’s Mayor” in the wake of theSept. 11, 2001, terrorist attackshas, in recent years, made headlines for echoingDonald Trump’s false election claims — a decision that has since led to Giuliani facing criminal charges.
Giuliani spent months after the 2020 election hosting press conferences and appearing on television and in courtrooms to try and contest the results of the election. Many of those appearances were not only striking for their substance, but for Giuliani’s combative tone and appearance (such as one since-viral moment when what appeared to behair dye ran down his faceduring a live press conference).
After spending months arguing, without proof, that the election had been stolen from Trump, Giuliani and other allies of the former president failed to prove their case, with many of their lawsuits being tossed out of court altogether.
His actions in the wake of the election led to Giuliani beingone of 19 people recently chargedin a sprawling, 98-page indictment that detailed an alleged attempt to undermine the will of American voters.
The attorney has also made headlines for other controversies, such as when one of his former staffers introduced a series of bombshellaudio transcriptsof the former mayor as part of a lawsuit alleging he forced her to have oral sex and intercourse.
The court filings detail how Giuliani allegedly made a number of sexist, as well as antisemitic and homophobic remarks.
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The staffer’s lawsuit also alleges Giuliani was selling presidential pardons for $2 million.
Giuliani is also thought to be one of theco-conspiratorslisted in a federal indictment of Trump. The co-conspirators are not guaranteed to face criminal charges, but as Special Counsel Jack Smith said in an August press conference, “Our investigation of other individuals continues” — a line that suggests further indictments could be in the pipeline.
source: people.com
