Rudy Giuliani Endorses Donald Trump, Slams Ted Cruz
Rudy Giuliani announced today that he is going to vote for “his friend” Donald Trump in the upcoming New York primary, but will that be enough to help Trump among upstate New York conservatives?
Giuliani, former mayor of New York City, finally stated that he “supports Trump” after months of going back and forth on whom he might support in the Republican Primary. Giuliani expects his friend Donald Trump to get more than half of the votes at stake in the April 19 Republican primary.
Rudy Giuliani’s Raging Bull https://t.co/v4f0RRG4Ox via @thedailybeast Great @mikebarnicle column on a contemptible man.
— Jonathan Alter (@jonathanalter) April 7, 2016
“I support Trump, I’m gonna vote for Trump. It’s a question of how much he gets over 50 percent, if he wins 70 or 80 delegates, Donald has a good shot of securing the 1,237 delegates needed to secure the nomination before the convention,” said Rudy Giuliani today, speaking with the New York Post.
Giuliani also blasted Texas Senator Ted Cruz for his controversial comments on “New York Values,” which Cruz used to slam Donald Trump’s alleged “liberal bias.” Rudy Giuliani stated that the comment will likely hurt Cruz in the New York primary, and that New Yorkers aren’t likely to forget the slight.
“It’s New York City. We’re family. I can make fun of New York, but you can’t!” said Rudy Giuliani today, speaking with the New York Post.
Rudy Giuliani backed off his attacks against Ted Cruz a little, saying that he knows what Cruz meant by “New York values” – he was targeting “liberal democratic” values, not New Yorkers as a whole, claims Giuliani. Still, the attack rubbed him the wrong way, and in the end pushed Giuliani toward “his old friend” Donald Trump.
“I know he was attacking liberal Democratic values, I know. I fought to change those policies in areas like welfare reform and policing, as did Mike Bloomberg, there was a better way to say it,” Rudy Giuliani commented today, speaking with the New York Post about Ted Cruz and the upcoming New York primary.
Still, Rudy Giuliani admitted that he doesn’t support Donald Trump entirely – they have some differences, but Giuliani is still going to vote for Trump. Giuliani urged Trump and Cruz to stop the personal attacks, claiming the bitter attacks over their wives only hurt the Republican Party as a whole. Giuliani reportedly supports Trump’s positions on the economy, immigration, and national security – an issue close to Giuliani’s heart after his involvement in the aftermath of the 9/11.
Former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani says he's voting for @realDonaldTrump –> https://t.co/qmo3aBzk6U pic.twitter.com/jJvAqlbJMO
— NBC10 Philadelphia (@NBCPhiladelphia) April 7, 2016
“Trump is a negotiator. He negotiates from a high bar to get people’s attention. Threatening to withdraw from NATO will get a better deal with NATO,” said former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani today.
CNN asked Ted Cruz’s campaign manager this morning if the Texas senator had meant to meet with Rudy Giuliani today – addressing rumors that Giuliani might endorse Cruz – but the Cruz campaign manager shot down the rumor, saying it was completely “baseless.” Similarly, the New York Post asked Giuliani if there was any truth to the rumor that he might support Cruz, or that he might have met with him in New York ahead of the April 19 primary.
Rudy Giuliani reportedly denied the rumors, stating that he was never scheduled to meet with Ted Cruz. Business Insider reports that the Giuliani endorsement is pretty good news for Trump, whose supporters have a lot in common with Rudy Giuliani’s own voters. Trump, as Giuliani mentioned, hopes to win the New York primary by taking more than half the vote, and the Giuliani endorsement could help him achieve that goal, speculates Business Insider.
[Photo by Andrew Burton/Getty Images]
