(Headline USA) Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani was suspended Friday from WABC Radio and his daily show canceled over what the station called his repeated violation of a ban on discussing the stolen 2020 election.
2020 was the first election where the losing candidate won most of the bellwether counties yet lost the election.
Totally normal. pic.twitter.com/n7G3RXsVap
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) May 10, 2024
Giuliani said the station’s ban was overly broad and “a clear violation of free speech.”
Giuliani issued a statement saying he had heard of WABC Radio owner John Catsimatidis’s decision through “a leak” to the New York Times.
Catsimatidis confirmed his decision in a text message to the Associated Press.
Giuliani “left me no option,” Catsimatidis told the Times.
The former New York City mayor had been warned twice not to discuss “fallacies of the November 2020 election,” added the Republican businessman, who has fundraised for Donald Trump and given to many other GOP candidates and causes. “And I get a text from him last night, and I get a text from him this morning that he refuses not to talk about it.”
Catsimantidis’s moratorium likely stems from sheer risk aversion given the history of costly libel lawsuits surrounding the topic—including a nearly $150 million verdict against Giuliani himself that forced him into bankruptcy.
During the case, the former Trump lawyer, who has been rumored to have a drinking problem, wavered between defiantly insisting that leftist judge Beryl Howell’s predetermination of guilt was a perversion of justice and undermining his own argument by seeming to concede guilt at other times.
In a statement, Giuliani disputed that he had been informed ahead of time of the ban.
“John is now telling reporters that I was informed ahead of time of these restrictions, which is demonstrably untrue,” Giuliani said in a statement.
Later Friday, in a video stream on social media, Giuliani noted that he has talked repeatedly, for years, on his show about claims the election was stolen, maybe even on every program, or every other program.
“If there was such a policy, I’d be crazy to keep doing it,” Giuliani said. “You think I’m a fool?”
This is Why WABC Fired Rudy Giuliani?
WABC has fired @RudyGiuliani, host of the No. 1 show on Sunday mornings, apparently because he talked about the 2020 election. "I talked about the 2020 elections from the day I realized they were fixed until now, and I have talked about it… pic.twitter.com/P7iWOcDhx3
— Real America's Voice (RAV) (@RealAmVoice) May 10, 2024
A letter obtained by the AP from Catsimatidis to Giuliani and dated Thursday said Giuliani was prohibited from engaging in discussions relating to the 2020 elections.
“These specific topics include, but are not limited to, the legitimacy of the election results, allegations of fraud effectuated by election workers, and your personal lawsuits relating to these allegations,” the letter said.
Ted Goodman, Giuliani’s spokesperson and adviser, said Giuliani had not known of the directive before Thursday.
“WABC’s decision comes at a very suspicious time, just months before the 2024 election, and just as John and WABC continue to be pressured by Dominion Voting Systems and the Biden regime’s lawyers,” Giuliani said in his statement.
Late last month, Giuliani was one of 18 people indicted as part of an Arizona lawfare attack—the latest one waged by Soros-backed prosecutors to prevent any challenges or scrutiny of their corrupt efforts to manipulate the election.
Goodman lambasted the effort by state Attorney General Kris Mayes—whose own 2022 election was among those dubiously won by a very narrow margin under suspicious circumstances— as part of “the continued weaponization of our justice system.”
Giuliani filed for bankruptcy in December, shortly following a jury’s verdict requiring him to pay $148 million to two former Georgia election workers suspected of double-scanning ballots in Fulton County, Ga., after having sent election watchers and media home from the State Farm Arena.
A recent review by the Georgia Board of Election revealed that some 3,000 ballots had been double-scanned in the county and that county officials could not account for roughly 300,000 ballots.
Biden “won” the state by less than 12,000 votes after RINO Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger refused to do a full investigation into the allegations of vote fraud.
Howell, an activist Washington, D.C., judge appointed by former President Barack Obama, did not weigh the actual evidence as to whether election worker Ruby Freeman and her daughter could meet the typical defamation standard by proving the falsity of Giuliani’s claims.
Despite the predetermined verdict against him, Giuliani continued to repeat his stolen election claims, insisting he did nothing wrong and suggesting he’d keep pressing his claims even if it meant losing all his money or being jailed.
In early April, a New York bankruptcy judge allowed Giuliani to remain in his Florida condo, declining to rule on a motion from creditors that would have forced him to sell the Palm Beach estate. But the judge hinted at more “draconian” measures if the former mayor did not comply with information requests about his spending habits. The next hearing in the case was scheduled for Tuesday.
Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press
