Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who has courted significant controversy as the personal attorney for former Republican President Donald Trump, was criticized after he went on a profanity-filled rant at a "brainwashed" heckler during the Celebrate Israel Parade in New York City on Sunday, May 22.
While it was not clear what the heckler said, Giuliani's profanity-laden reaction was nonetheless caught on tape, going viral after it was shared by Jacob Kornbluh, a reporter for the popular Jewish-run news website The Forward.
You can hear Giuliani's remarks in the video below.
Marching behind Mayor Adams is @RudyGiuliani who gets into a shouting match with a Democrat.
“You are a jackass… You are a brainwashed asshole… you are probably as demented as Biden,” Giuliani told the guy
Watch the video 👇 pic.twitter.com/qjlTzQSP8j
— Jacob Kornbluh (@jacobkornbluh) May 22, 2022
Giuliani said:
“I reduced crime, you jackass. You are a brainwashed a**hole."
When someone, possibly the heckler, sarcastically referred to Giuliani as "a class act," Giuliani replied with the following:
“I am a class act! You're probably as demented as [Democratic President Joe] Biden!"
Giuliani received harsh criticism for making the parade about him.
Class act @RudyGiuliani, screaming obscenities while marching I presume as a guest of the Parade organizers. You have lost your damn mind. https://t.co/1nbbJE9pDJ
— Popok (@mspopok) May 22, 2022
I would say this is sad were he not so despicable. https://t.co/YfrSf9KhOW
— Clyde Haberman (@ClydeHaberman) May 22, 2022
Walking ad for a psychiatric hold. #Rudy https://t.co/AxjIsNdjEp
— Sanity Rules 🌊 (@Sanity_Rules) May 22, 2022
You have lost your mind, if it even existed. #DemVoice1 #OurBlueVoice #rudygiuliani https://t.co/5mE704uQZ7
— Combat-Veteran 99-07🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊 (@Randy16357441) May 22, 2022
Just to show the world that the #GOP has no shame. https://t.co/DZbSkcht5g
— El Gato de NC 💙🐈 (@El_Gato_de_NC) May 23, 2022
What an embarrassment (and I mean Giuliani). https://t.co/xjLVtlzLFE
— philkortig (@philkortig) May 23, 2022
No one in current American politics is as clearly demented as Rudy Giuliani. When a man who is a genuine ass**le starts losing control it is not a pretty sight. https://t.co/UKjxh5C3y8
— Kid Phantasm (@cbbruuno) May 22, 2022
LOL 😂😂😂😂😂 Rudy on the offensive. Endured 9 hours that painted a grim picture, it shook him to his core. Now this😂😂 https://t.co/bP1dzVgt0M
— STANDING IN THE BREACH (@physicianstran1) May 22, 2022
Giuliani has often claimed he and his team were responsible for reduced crime rates when he served as mayor of New York City between 1993 and 2001.
Indeed, he continued to highlight crime reduction and law enforcement as central missions of his mayoralty throughout both terms, but the reality is a bit more complicated than he might claim.
According to Politifact, the Pulitzer Prize-winning fact checking service, Giuliani doesn't get all the credit for reducing crime in New York City during both his terms because a decline in crime rates was actually observed several years before he took office.
Politifact notes that:
"Rather, many criminologists believe the decline in New York, as in Chicago, San Diego, Miami and elsewhere, was the result of a complex mix of social and demographic changes, including a break in the crack cocaine epidemic, an improving economy, and increased prison terms for proven lawbreakers."
And in claiming President Biden is "demented," Giualini repeated the claim Biden is "mentally frail," which has become a favorite talking point in conservative circles.
However, claims Biden has a cognitive impairment are unfounded.
In September 2020, ABC News reported the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) withheld intelligence warnings of Russian disinformation attacking Biden to promote "allegations about poor mental health."
The intelligence bulletin, titled "Russia Likely to Denigrate Health of US Candidates to Influence 2020 Election," said American intelligence determined Russian operatives were sowing disinformation to convince the American electorate Biden has dementia and would be unfit to serve in office.
But the fact the bulletin has discredited allegations about Biden's mental health has not stopped prominent conservatives from claiming Biden is very much at the mercy of handlers.