Rudy Giuliani breathing on his own after being hospitalized for pneumonia | Rudy Giuliani
Former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani is breathing on his own after being hospitalized with pneumonia and placed on a ventilator, his spokesman said Monday.
Giuliani, 81, is in critical but stable condition at a Florida hospital and is being monitored as a precautionary measure, spokesman Ted Goodman said.
Goodman said Giuliani’s condition was exacerbated by restrictive airway disease, which was attributed to his exposure to dust and toxins after the Sept. 11 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in 2001.
Giuliani was hospitalized near Palm Beach, Florida, after he was heard coughing on his nightly online talk show on Friday and told viewers in hushed tones that his voice was “kind of off.”
“This condition adds complications to any respiratory disease, and the virus quickly took over his body, requiring mechanical ventilation to maintain adequate oxygen and stabilize his condition,” Goodman said in a statement.
He described Giuliani as “the best fighter” and said “he’s winning this fight.”
Goodman added that Giuliani’s family and primary healthcare provider stand by the former mayor. He said they thanked well-wishers for the “love and support”.
“The mayor believes in the power of prayer, and we feel that power today,” Goodman said.
Giuliani’s eight-year tenure as mayor of the nation’s largest city was interrupted by the Sept. 11 attack just months before he left office. Celebrated as “America’s mayor” for his leadership, Queen Elizabeth II. He was knighted by Elizabeth II and named Person of the Year by Time magazine.
Giuliani, a Republican, then made an unsuccessful run for president. He was an advisor to Donald Trump and led efforts to keep him in the Oval Office after losing the 2020 presidential election to Joe Biden.
In that role, Giuliani became a vocal defender of the president’s allegations of fraud in his defeat to Biden. Trump and his supporters have lost dozens of lawsuits alleging fraud, and countless recounts, reviews and audits of the election results have turned up no signs of serious inaccuracies or errors.
Two former Georgia election workers later won a $148 million defamation judgment against Giuliani. While trying to get the verdict, the former federal prosecutor was charged with contempt of court and faced a lawsuit over the ownership of some of his assets.
Giuliani eventually struck a deal that allowed him to keep their home and various belongings, including his prized World Series rings, in exchange for unspecified compensation and a promise to stop speaking ill of former election workers.
In September, Giuliani was hospitalized after suffering a broken spine and other injuries in a car crash in New Hampshire. That same month, Trump said he would award Giuliani the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the United States’ highest civilian honor.
Giuliani coughed as he began his nightly online show, America’s Mayor Live! on Friday. As he spoke, his voice sounded more gruff than usual. “My voice is a little bad, so I won’t be able to speak as loudly as usual, but I will get closer to the microphone,” he said, before launching into a commentary on the Iran war.
Trump called Giuliani, among other things, a “True Warrior” in a post on his Truth Social platform.
