Rudy Giuliani defiantly hit back at claims that he is an alcoholic, saying he would be in the ‘Guinness Book of World Records’ if he drank heavily and still be able to carry on the career he has had.
The 79-year-old former mayor of New York was asked about one New York Times report alleging his relationship with booze is the focus of prosecutors in Donald Trump’s federal election case.
He flatly dismissed the allegations as he announced he would sue President Joe Biden for defamation for saying he was a “Russian pawn.”
“If I had an alcohol problem, and I could do all that, I would be in the Guinness Book of Records,” Giuliani said at a news conference in New Hampshire, where he listed his achievements.
‘I don’t have an alcohol problem. “I never had an alcohol problem,” he said.
Rudy Giuliani has hit back at claims he is an alcoholic in a defiant statement claiming he would be in the ‘Guinness Book of World Records’ if he drank during his legendary career
He was asked about the report after revealing he has filed a lawsuit against Biden.
Giuliani said Biden claimed during the 2020 election that he had ties to the Kremlin and spread Russian disinformation.
During the debate with Trump on October 22, 2020, Biden said: “Buddy, Rudy Giuliani, he’s being used as a Russian pawn, he’s getting information that is Russian and not true.
Biden also said Hunter’s laptop contained fake news.
“Four, five former heads of the CIA say what (Trump) says” about the laptop “is a load of nonsense,” Biden said. “No one believes it except… his good friend Rudy Giuliani.”
Giuliani hinted that he was seeking “millions and billions of dollars” in damages, but would not specify an exact amount.
New Hampshire has more liberal defamation laws, making it easier for Giuliani to sue.
A New York Times report Wednesday morning cited former aides and friends as saying Giuliani’s drinking has been a “concern” for nearly a decade.
His constant drunkenness is now so predictable, the Times reports, that bartenders at his favorite cigar lounge in Midtown Manhattan signal when he’s had too much to drink by holding back an empty hand as if to mimic him.
The Times reports that Giuliani’s drinking has long been a problem, but is now particularly concerning given his mounting legal troubles.
According to sources close to the investigation, special counsel Jack Smith has now questioned witnesses about how much Giuliani drank when he advised Trump on election night and in the weeks that followed, as the pair continued to deny the outcome.
They are curious whether Trump overlooked or ignored Giuliani’s “habitual drunkenness.”
It could damage any attempt by Trump to argue that he was simply following his lawyer’s advice if prosecutors can prove that Trump knew Giuliani was drunk.
His political adviser Ted Goodman told the Times: “I have been in regular contact with the mayor over the past year, and the idea that he is an alcoholic is an outright lie.
He flatly dismissed the allegations as he announced he would sue President Joe Biden for defamation for saying he was a “Russian pawn.”
Prosecutors are investigating whether Trump overlooked Giuliani’s drunkenness and followed his advice on rejecting the election results
Stephen Colbert poked fun at Giulaini’s taste in alcohol during his late night show in 2019
Giulaini toasts with Prince Andrew in February 2002 after receiving an honorary knighthood
“(It has) become fashionable in certain circles to smear the mayor in an effort to stay in the good graces of New York’s so-called ‘high society’ and the cocktail circuit in Washington, DC.”
“The Rudy Giuliani you all see today is the same man who took down the Mafia, cleaned up the streets of New York and comforted the nation after September 11.”
In a 2021 NBC interview, Giuliani said, “I’m not an alcoholic. I function – I probably function more effectively than 90 percent of the population.”
However, Andrew Stein, the former Democratic New York City Council chairman charged with tax evasion, insists Giuliani’s drinking is a problem.
“It’s not a secret, and I’m not doing him any favors by not mentioning that problem, because he has it. “It’s actually one of the saddest things I can think of in politics,” he said.
Last year, Giuliani refuted that he had been drunk on election night in a series of now-deleted tweets.