I wrote about Trump henchman Lee Zeldin, R-NY, backing off of his support for Donald Trump as he launches his race for Governor in a state Joe Biden won by 23 points earlier this week. He is trying to present himself as a “moderate” now but it’s impossible to see how he can escape his Trumpist past or why anyone will trust anything he says. Now he has another problem — a Trumpist encouraged to throw his hat into the ring by the man himself:
Andrew Giuliani, the son of former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and a former special assistant to disgraced ex-President Donald Trump, declared Tuesday that he’s running for New York governor in a bid to knock out Democratic incumbent Andrew Cuomo.
“Giuliani vs. Cuomo. Holy smokes. It’s Muhammad Ali vs. Joe Frazier. We can sell tickets at Madison Square Garden,” he told the New York Post on Tuesday. (The beleaguered Cuomo has not officially launched a reelection campaign for a fourth term.)https://862cda38b6a3aec4116396fa003ef6af.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-38/html/container.html
Giuliani changed his Twitter bio to read “Candidate: 57th Governor Of New York.” He touted his run in a promo on Fox 5’s “Good Day New York,” saying it’s “where the road to Albany begins.” He also retweeted the Post’s article.
The younger Giuliani has never held public office. But as the son of Rudy Giuliani ― whose time during the Trump presidency was spent fruitlessly pursuing the ex-president’s baseless legal claims that the election was stolen, publicly ranting, and appearing with his hand down his pants while being pranked in the “Borat” sequel ― the gubernatorial run feels like a natural transition.
“I’m a politician out of the womb. It’s in my DNA,” Giuliani, 35, told the tabloid.
Giuliani, who previously said he was mulling a gubernatorial bid, has recently served as a contributor on the far-right Newsmax channel, NBC New York noted.
Andrew Giuliani is Trump’s favorite golfing partner. That makes him eminently qualified to be Governor of New York.
This is from last month:
Andrew Giuliani, the son of Trump lawyer and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, said in an interview Wednesday that he is “seriously considering” a run for governor in 2022 and spoke with former President Donald Trump earlier this week about his political ambitions.
“I did speak with President Trump on Monday and it was a great conversation,” Giuliani said. “We talked about New York politics and went through the numbers on this and I explained to him where I think I would be able to make inroads that no other potential candidate would be able to.”https://0318609956638298ce2c69aeefcb20dd.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-38/html/container.html
A blessing from Trump would go a long way for any Republican candidate running in a GOP primary. That may be particularly true in New York, where the former president built his real estate empire and made his name before decamping to Florida in his post-presidency.
But for Giuliani, a former White House official and frequent golf partner of the 45th president, getting Trump’s backing is no slam dunk. The former president is said to be partial to Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-N.Y.), a longtime GOP congressman and friend of the Trump family, who has been floated as a possible candidate himself.
Zeldin’s clumsy walkback of his support for Trump and denunciation of January 6th foreclosed any possibility that Trump will endorse him unless he disavows all comments and publicly prostrates himself before Dear Leader. And even then …
Trump may not officially endorse Andrew simply because he may be convinced that he has no chance. But as long as Andrew is in the race fluffing Trump you can bet the base will be ecstatic about him. That is everything.