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Tim Russert has invited all the presidential candidates to appear on Meet the Press, and yesterday former Mayor Rudy Giuliani appeared. We imagine many New Yorkers watching the program gnashed their teeth and/or swore at the TV (we happened to do both), as Giuliani tried to answer questions ranging from the straightforward (Giuliani's Iowa poll numbers, Russert asked, "Fifth place, is that a problem?") to the interesting (Russert on Giuliani's consulting business: "A Las Vegas developer that you worked with who had a close partnership with Hong Kong billionaire who was close to Kim Jong-Il. These are all accusations being made in a very serious way about your business.").
The highlight might have been the questions about disgraced former Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik and security details to then-girlfriend, now-wife Judi Nathan. Here's Giuliani's initial response to the Kerik question:
First of all, this is very, you know, this is a very tragic and terrible situation for everybody. Now, the reality is I made a mistake. I made a mistake in not vetting him carefully enough. And it’s my responsibility; I should have. And I’ve appointed hundreds, thousands of people; to that level, probably hundreds of people, and I have made few mistakes. Most of them have been correct, most of them have been outstanding people. Most of them have been outstanding enough to get exceptional results with their services—reducing crime or reducing welfare, turning around the city of New York, prosecuting organized crime, prosecuting white collar crime. So I think my judgment on appointments turns out to almost always be very good, with, unfortunately, some mistakes that I’ve made. This is one of them, and I’m really sorry for it and have, and have learned from it.Russert did a pretty good job hammering away about Kerik, asking about claims that Giuliani was briefed about Kerik's checkered relationships, how Kerik used a city-paid apartment for an affair with Judith Reagan, how Giuilani still supported Kerik for the Homeland Security position. Russert did ask about the security details for Judi Nathan, but didn't go as hard as he could have:
MR. RUSSERT: But this, this was when, this was when no one knew she was your girlfriend. This was before September 11th, 2001. There were—no one knew who she was.MR. GIULIANI: They were—well, first of all, that isn’t correct. Secondly, these were all based upon threat assessments made by the New York City Police Department and all based on their analysis of what was necessary to protect her life, my life, other people’s lives.
MR. RUSSERT: Before it was known that you were even dating her, there were threats against her?
MR. GIULIANI: The threats were—the threats were after. The threats were after.We did like how Russert asked if it would be appropriate for the President of the United States to provide Secret Service security for a mistress, but Russert could have asked why NYPD detectives were chauffeuring Nathan's friends and family around - without Nathan in the car - and walking Nathan's dog. You can read the whole transcript from Meet the Press here.MR. RUSSERT: But this protection was...
MR. GIULIANI: No it wasn’t. You got it all—no, it wasn’t.
MR. RUSSERT: Bernard Kerik, police commissioner, said there was no protection given before December 2000, and that is not a true statement.
MR. GIULIANI: No, but, Tim, our, our relationship became public in May of 2000. So when he said before 2000 is a whole big portion of 2000 where our relationship was public, there were threats, they had to be responded to. The police department did every single thing that was done for Judith, or for me, or for anybody else close to me, was based upon threat assessments made by other people who are professionals here, and they’ve made it very clear that that, that that’s the case. And this is beyond any doubt the way it was done.
However, Brendan Nyhan observes that most of Russert's questions were about ethics and honesty, versus issues like Iraq and other candidates. A "neutral" GOP consultant told the Daily News, "He's held up in the polls a lot longer than anyone thought, but the baggage is finally starting to catch up with him."
Photograph of Giuliani leaving the NBC studios by Jose Luis Magana/AP
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huh? he made the same mistake FOUR times:
- hiring Kerik as his driver
- appointing him as Police Commissioner
- going into private business partnership with him
- recommending him as Secretary of Homeland Security
That was a hatchet job of an interview. Equating working for Citgo with working for Hugo Chavez was the low point. Tim Russert should be embarrassed. I don't think they spent more than a minute on the issues.
MTP = regular Sunday hatchet job. Giuliani got the same treatment as everyone else. Even shiny, sparkly Obama damn near got trampled when he was on.
Working for Citgo is working for Chavez. Citgo is a state run operation, Chavez is head of state. Equals 4.
And finally, Giuliani doesn't have issues to speak of. He's never even been a legislator or a governor. He has zero preliminary experience at running such a huge operation with such exposure to face-time. He has no more 9/11 fuel and he's gliding to near-last place. Russert was just more than happy to stick a fork in him.
WHAT is up with that creepy Nosferatu posture?
Citgo is a state-run company clearly being used by Chavez as a propaganda tool. Chavez has made it clear that Venezuela's entire economy is his personal fiefdom. Taking checks from Citgo is basically the same as accepting cash straight out of Chavez's pocket. Anyone who does so should be embarrassed and ashamed.
GIULIANI & KERIK:
SOCIALIZED LOVEMAKING
It turns out both their hideaway trysts
Were paid for by New York's estate,
Which leads romantics among us to ask,
Did Rudy and Bernie double date?
Sorry Dave but it isn't the same thing. I don't mean to defend Chavez or Citgo but as long as Citgo is allowed to sell gasoline in the United States they are allowed to have legal counsel to negotiate our legal system. That's how America works. If you don't like it, don't buy Citgo gas. If Giuliani's firm was lobbying the US government for special treatment unrelated to oil and gasoline you might have a point but Giuliani gave his answer and Russert didn't even acknowledge it.
And caidence, obviously you hate Giuliani but that doesn't mean the rest of America wasnt' interested in hearing Giuliani's thoughts on illegal immigration, Iraq, taxation, Social Security, etc. If you think he sucks so hard you should have wanted him to answer and fall flat on his face on the issues.
He's just jockying for power($) position in the coming years. Totally unelectable. He knows it. The repubs know it. America knows it. The repubs are using him as window dressing to squeeze the last drop out of their exploiting of 911. Enough already. Don't waste your time even thinking about him. Who cares who he schtupped and who paid for the ride?
To respectfully disagree with you, EastRiver, Giuliani's conduct IS the issue. I don't want to hear what he has to say about anything else if he's going to lie about questions pertaining to his own life.
I agree that among all the things they discussed, the Citgo issue was a red herring. But how he handled himself in the interview (common consensus: not well) means that these issues will not go away.
There's little to like about Rudy and his wannabe neocon ditatorial tendencies. But, Russert lets his guests off the hook every week so they'll keep coming back to talk to him.
The stuff about Judi is small stuff. That low-grade graft is common, imo. But that his company dealt with terrorist sympathizers (atleast) from Qatar is worthy of scrutiny and Russert didn't push Rudy enough on it.
I cannot watch this guy on tv for 10 sec without squirming - this guy just oozes sleaze from every pore.
I agree with the point that he's just jockying for "influence" and realizes that he's unelectable. However, I hope that his reputation, and his beloved "Giuliani brand" will be tarnished before his campaigning is over in a few months...
Is it just me, or is his posture and smile more and more reminiscent of "I am not a crook!" - PotUS 37
Yeah, totally Nixonian. Rudy tried to keep his head above Russert's roiling waters but in the end, he sank before our very eyes. Either this will make him a cagier, more adept candidate, or he's dead meat.
Someone please make a youtube compilation of him saying 'Florida!' He must have said 'Florida' seven times in the first ten minutes.