Rudolph W. Giuliani, President Trump’s personal lawyer, claimed in a new interview that Democrats want to prolong coronavirus-related restrictions to politically hurt his client.
Mr. Giuliani was speaking about existing restrictions meant to mitigate the ongoing coronavirus pandemic Tuesday when he argued that Democrats are using them for political gain.
Discussing the measures on Newsmax TV, Mr. Giuliani was asked by the host of “Greg Kelly Reports” if he believes there is a political element “that wants to keep this going to inflict political damage” on Mr. Trump.
“Of course there is, Greg,” Mr. Giuliani replied. “You’d have to be a dope not to realize it. Why is it only the Democratic governors that want to hang on to this power?”
Mr. Giuliani, the former mayor of New York, subsequently criticized Democratic city and state leaders against lifting travel and business restrictions meant to slow the spread of COVID-19, the contagious disease caused by the coronavirus.
“Why is it that the governor of California and the mayor of Chicago and the governor of Michigan wants to lock up the whole state?” he said. “And they go to police powers right away! I mean, you’ve got to do this by consent. You can’t take away [a] person’s right to worship and do it with, you know, arrests.”
Most governors imposed statewide stay-at-home orders or similar measures beginning in March that temporarily shuttered businesses considered non-essential due to the coronavirus pandemic. Some have since eased those restrictions, despite COVID-19 currently having no cure and continuing to claim the lives of tens of thousands of Americans.
Mr. Giuliani’s remarks on Newsmax were first flagged by the Right Wing Watch website.
