On Oct. 8, 2019, The New York Times published my opinion essay “What Happened to Giuliani?” More than three years later, I’m still not sure of the answer.
“The man I worked for is not the man who now lies for Trump,” I wrote. I wanted to favorably introduce readers to the “old Rudy.” But I also hoped to snap him out of Donald Trump’s spell. That has turned out to be an impossible task.
I also hoped to snap him out of Trump’s spell. That has turned out to be an impossible task.
Ever the contrarian, Rudy Giuliani dismissed my column and the “liberal” newspaper it appeared in. He was busy trying to dig up dirt on Hunter Biden, anyway. But Ukrainian sidekicks Igor Fruman and Lev Parnas were arrested Oct. 9 — the day after my Times op-ed ran.
I met Rudy Giuliani in February 1992, when I was hired as press secretary on his rerun mayoral campaign against Democrat David Dinkins, the city’s first Black mayor. Giuliani had lost to Dinkins by 2 percentage points in 1989; he defeated Dinkins by 2 points in 1993, a four-point swing.
Back then, Rudy at least seemed like a regular guy from Brooklyn. Suits off the rack and sensible dress shoes. A quick study, a policy wonk, a terrific litigator. He smoked cigars but didn’t drink, at least not on the campaign trail. And he listened to me and others, because he wanted to win.
For more from Ken Frydman, watch “When Truth Isn’t Truth: The Rudy Giuliani Story,” premiering tonight at 10pm Eastern on MSNBC, and streaming on Peacock.
Rudy’s first term was arguably the most successful in the city’s history. His tough-on-crime policing strategies and tactics reduced murders in New York City from 2,245 in 1990 to under 800 in 1997, the end of his first term. And murders fell even further in 2001, Rudy’s last year as mayor. Indeed, the murder rate has continued to fall in the 20-plus years since: The city’s low-water murder mark was 292 in…
Read the full article here
