What did Donald Trump do today?

He offered condolences for Rudy Giuliani's poor health as only he could or would.

Rudy Giuliani is hospitalized tonight in "critical but stable condition." No other information is presently available. 

Giuliani was mayor of New York City during the September 11th attacks, and was briefly a top-tier political celebrity as a result. Later examinations of his actions before and during the attack, showing that he'd made enormous errors of judgment in managing New York's emergency response system cost him a lot of that goodwill. First responders went into the towers with radios that couldn't receive urgent commands to evacuate when it became clear that collapse was imminent, costing hundreds of firefighters' lives. This was a known problem that Giuliani dragged his feet on for two whole terms.

Giuliani was also responsible for the location of the city's emergency command center, which he put in the Trade Center itself over the strenuous objection of the NYPD. He used city police and city services to facilitate an extramarital affair with Judith Nathan (who later became his third wife) and then billed the costs of covering it up to city agencies. The two things are related: Giuliani insisted that the command center be within walking distance of his office, and it included a luxuriously-appointed "bunker" apartment for his private use, where he often met Nathan.

Giuliani tried to set himself up as a power broker in the post 9/11 world, to little success given his fame. He championed his hand-picked NYPD Commissioner, Bernie Kerik, as the Secretary of Homeland Security, but Kerik had to withdraw over a scandal that he had employed an undocumented woman as a nanny. That turned out to be the least of his crimes, which included tax fraud and lying to the FBI. (Trump, who has also committed tax fraud and knowingly employed undocumented workers, later pardoned him.)

After a brief flirtation with a presidential run in 2008—famously derailed by then-candidate Joe Biden's joke about Giuliani being unable to make a sentence that didn't involve "a noun, a verb, and 9/11"—he attached himself to the Trump campaign. He was personally involved in Trump's attempts to blackmail Ukraine into "investigating" Biden, the crimes that formed the basis for Trump's first impeachment. Though increasingly erratic and unreliable during Trump's first term, and widely understood to have a serious alcohol problem, Giuliani's willingness to break any rule or law in pursuit of Trump's aims seems to have convinced Trump that he was the "Roy Cohn" figure that Trump had been searching for. 

Giuliani was increasingly desperate for money to support a Trump-like luxury lifestyle, and that depended on Trump staying in office, so that Giuliani could—among other things—sell access to Trump for pardons. That may explain why Giuliani was so willing to break the law on Trump's behalf in a desperate attempt to overturn the result of the 2020 election. He lied to courts about matters of fact during the litigation that immediately followed, made what judges called "strained legal arguments without merit and speculative accusations" in an attempt to drag proceedings out past the deadline for Congress to act, and viciously slandered election workers with bizarre conspiracy theories that got them death threats. He lost virtually all of his dwindling fortune to those workers in lawsuits. He was disbarred and indicted for the election crimes. Trump issued a pardon for his federal crimes after returning to office. 

One other event, no more bizarre than many in his life but particularly horrifying in terms of what it said about his morality and mental state in his later life, is worth mentioning. Giuliani was "interviewed" as part of the comedy sequel Borat Subsequent Moviefilm. In reality, the interviewer was the actor Maria Bakalova (a 24-year-old convincingly made up to look younger), but Giuliani had been led to believe that she was an underage right-wing journalism protégée. He flirted with her, invited her up to his private hotel suite, and then laid back on his bed and began to reach into his pants. "Borat," played by actor Sascha Baron Cohen, then interrupted the scene before Giuliani could actually expose himself or make a direct sexual advance on Bakalova.

 

Trump, who is two years younger than Giuliani, reacted to the news on his boutique social media by blaming Democrats and insisting that Giuliani had been "RIGHT ABOUT EVERYTHING."

Our fabulous Rudy Giuliani, a True Warrior, and the Best Mayor in the History of New York City, BY FAR, has been hospitalized, and is in critical condition. What a tragedy that he was treated so badly by the Radical Left Lunatics, Democrats ALL — AND HE WAS RIGHT ABOUT EVERYTHING! They cheated on the Elections, fabricated hundreds of stories, did anything possible to destroy our Nation, and now, look at Rudy. So sad! President DONALD J. TRUMP  

As for it being Democrats who treated Giuliani badly—and Trump's supposed concern over it—there is a coda to the relationship between the two men. Trump, whose net worth has ballooned to over $10 billion since returning to the presidency, owes Giuliani more than $2 million in legal fees, but is refusing to pay, or even take calls from his former lawyer.

 

Trump and Giuliani (in drag) in a comedy sketch recorded for a charity event in 2000. Later in the sketch, Trump rubs his face in Giuliani's "breasts" and tries to kiss him. As president, Trump has tried to gin up outrage at "immoral" drag performances.

Giuliani at the infamous Four Seasons Total Landscaping press conference. 

 

A substance, possibly hair dye or facial makeup that had been applied to the hair, drips down Giuliani's face during a press conference after Trump lost the 2020 election.

 

Why does this matter?

• You can judge a lot about a person by the company they keep.