Rudy Giuliani suspended by WABC in New York for pushing lies about the 2020 election

NEW YORK (AP) — Rudy Giuliani was suspended from WABC Radio on Friday and his daily show was canceled for what the station called his repeated violation of a ban on discussion discredited 2020 election claims. Giuliani said the ban on the channel is too broad and “a clear violation of freedom of expression.”

Giuliani issued a statement saying he learned of WABC Radio owner John Catsimatidis’ decision through “a leak.” to The New York Times. Catsimatidis confirmed his decision in a text message to The Associated Press.

Giuliani “left me no choice,” Catsimatidis told the Times, saying the former New York City mayor had been warned twice not to discuss the “misconceptions of the November 2020 election.”

“And I get a text from him last night, and I get a text from him this morning that he refuses to not talk about it,” the Republican businessman said. who raised money for Donald Trump, told the newspaper.

As Trump’s personal lawyer, Giuliani was a key figure in the… attempts by the former president to overturn the 2020 election results and remain in office.

Giuliani disputed that he was informed of the ban in advance.

“John is now telling reporters that I had advance notice of these restrictions, which is demonstrably untrue,” Giuliani said in a statement. Later Friday, Giuliani noted in a video stream on social media that he has repeatedly talked about claims that the election was stolen on his show for years, perhaps even on every show, if not every other show.

“If there was such a policy, I would be crazy to continue doing it,” Giuliani said. “Do you think I’m a fool?”

In a letter obtained by the AP from Catsimatidis to Giuliani dated Thursday, Giuliani was prohibited from participating in discussions related to the 2020 election.

“These specific topics include, but are not limited to, the legitimacy of the election results, allegations of fraud by election officials, and your personal lawsuits related to these allegations,” the letter said.

Ted Goodman, Giuliani’s spokesman and adviser, said Giuliani was not aware of the directive before Thursday.

“WABC’s decision comes at a highly suspicious time, just months before the 2024 election, and just as John and WABC continue to be pressured by Dominion Voting Systems and the Biden administration’s lawyers,” Giuliani said in his statement.

At the end of last month, Giuliani was one of them 18 people indicted by an Arizona grand jury for their role in trying to overturn Trump’s 2020 loss. At the time, his spokesman Goodman denounced what he called “the continued weaponization of our justice system.”

Giuliani filed for bankruptcy in Decembershortly after a jury verdict ordered him to pay $148 million to two former Georgia election workers for spreading lies about their role in the 2020 election. Despite the verdict, Giuliani continued to repeat his stolen election claims, insisting that he had done nothing wrong and suggested that he would continue to make his claims even if it meant losing all his money or going to jail.

The bankruptcy led to a diverse coalition of creditors come forward, including a supermarket employee who ended up in prison for this pat him on the backtwo election technology companies about which he spread conspiracies, a woman who says he did forced her in sex, several of his former lawyers, the IRS and Hunter Biden, who says Giuliani illegally shared his personal information.

At the beginning of April one The New York bankruptcy judge allowed Giuliani to stay in his Florida apartment and refused to rule on a motion by creditors that would have forced him to sell the Palm Beach estate. But the judge hinted at more ‘draconian’ measures if the former mayor did not respond to requests for information about his spending habits. The next hearing in the case was scheduled for Tuesday.