Rudy Giuliani’s son, Andrew Giuliani, has announced that he will be running for governor of New York. He announced his candidacy at a press conference Tuesday, and when asked what makes him qualified for the position (a good question!), he responded that he has decades of experience. In fact, he claimed to be the only candidate who has spent part of five decades in politics and public service.
Giuliani is 35 years old.
A reporter asked him where he got the math to say he’s spent five decades in politics, and Giuliani clarified that he said part of five decades. But even that doesn’t make any sense.
Giuliani is starting that political record in 1989, when his father launched his first (losing) mayoral campaign, so “part of five decades” includes one year of the 80s, the first two years of this decade, and the three decades in between. A weird way to frame things, but fine.
Except in 1989, Giuliani the Younger would have been three years old. I don’t think we can count that as relevant political experience.
Yesterday
Andrew Giuliani:
“Im the only candidate thats spent parts of 5 different decades of my life in politics or public service…”Reporter:
How do you get 5 decades? You’re only 35.G:
“Let me clarify. I said parts of 5 decades…my father’s 1st campaign was 1989…”— Azi 👏 Wear your 😷 over your 👃and 👄 (@Azi) May 19, 2021
“I spent part of 32 years in politics,” the 35-year-old said unconvincingly. In all honesty, growing up in New York politics is something he could claim gives him a leg up. But that’s not what he’s saying. He explicitly claims his toddler years as actual professional political experience.
That clip. https://t.co/p5bUEYt7dx pic.twitter.com/NS5DWPHdVo
— Azi 👏 Wear your 😷 over your 👃and 👄 (@Azi) May 19, 2021
This is ludicrous, but Giuliani clearly likes it as a sound bite, because he repeated the claim to both Fox News and Newsmax following the press conference.
Andrew Giuliani says he has spent five decades in government even though he’s 35 years old. pic.twitter.com/fVSIhHT7DC
— Andrew Feinberg (@AndrewFeinberg) May 19, 2021
As a reminder, Giuliani’s only actual political experience has come in the last few years, when he was given a cushy position in Donald Trump’s administration. Presumably based on nothing but his experience as a pro and amateur golfer and being the son of Trump’s bumbling lawyer, Giuliani was named an Associate Director in the Office of Public Liaison and later promoted to Special Assistant to the President.
His job consisted of setting up White House visits for sports teams and, for some inexplicable reason, representing his office in White House meetings about the opioid crisis.
Describing what exactly Giuliani did in the White House, one official once told The Atlantic, “He doesn’t really try to be involved in anything. He’s just having a nice time.”
(image: ED JONES/AFP via Getty Images)
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