The Wages of Loyalty to Trump
The Wages of Loyalty to Trump
Rudy Giuliani put everything on the line for Donald Trump, destroying himself in the process. Then Trump hung him out to dry.
Amid the horror of 9/11, Rudy Giuliani proved a beacon of leadership. He navigated New York City through its darkest hour and became a face of our national resolve to unite and overcome, earning himself the title of “America’s Mayor.” He was even named Giuliani Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II for his “outstanding help and support to the bereaved British families in New York.”
It’s hard to imagine a harder comedown. Giuliani’s public image has been tragically tarnished due to his work for Donald Trump after the 2020 election. The former president instructed Giuliani to pull out all the stops in order to overturn the outcome. “Okay, Rudy, you’re in charge. Go wild, do anything you want. I don’t care,” Trump said, according to Maggie Haberman at the New York Times. So, like a loyal knight, he did just that.
Consequently, he is now facing disbarment proceedings in D.C. and New York. Giuliani’s law license has been suspended. He is, as CNN reported Wednesday, “staring down hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal bills and sanctions amid numerous lawsuits in addition to the new criminal charges.” And Trump can’t seem to care.
He doesn’t appear very interested in helping with some of Giuliani’s legal bills. He also hasn’t honored their agreement for pay over the post-election work that got Giuliani into this mess. But why?
Haberman, also known as Trump’s “psychiatrist,” told CNN that Trump agreed to only pay Giuliani he if delivered the goods.
One of the ironies right now in the situation around Donald Trump is you will hear some of his advisers say, “He’s really upset that Rudy got indicted.” Or leading into this, “He was really worried about Rudy.” But not so worried he was going to pay Giuliani’s legal bills, and this has been an issue over and over and over again, and people who are still close to Giuliani will try to blame the Republican National Committee or this former aide to Trump or this person.
But Haberman says there’s only one person to blame. “This is Trump.”
“According to my reporting,” she added, “it was Trump who didn’t want Giuliani paid unless Giuliani delivered on his promises, and obviously that didn’t happen.”
I’m sure Giuliani believed he was doing the right thing at the time and trusted Trump to take care of him if things went sideways. But that is exactly the kind of person Trump chews up and spits out.
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