Rudy Giuliani finally conceded Tuesday he's endorsing Donald Trump's presidential bid, but he continued to insist that still doesn't mean he's part of his campaign.
"I'm Rudy Giuliani, I mean a lot in New York politics," the former New York City Mayor told CNN's
"New Day" host Chris Cuomo, repeating the words after Cuomo asked him why he wouldn't say them.
"I endorse Donald Trump, but I'm not part of the campaign."
Giuliani finally gave in and told Cuomo he'd endorse Trump after the cable news anchor pushed him on similar comments he made about Trump last week, when he said he'd vote for him, but refused to admit he was endorsing him, as that would mean he's working with the Trump campaign.
"It doesn't make sense to me that you are going to vote for Trump, but you won't endorse him," Cuomo told him.
"Okay, so I'll endorse him, but I'm not part of the campaign," the mayor shot back.
That means, Giuliani said, that "I'm not a surrogate. They haven't asked me to do anything. I'm not involved in the campaign. I'm not called upon to give advice, except a few times when I volunteered it. I'm not part of the campaign apparatus. I don't want people to think I am."
And that differs, Giuliani said, from current Mayor Bill de Blasio's open endorsement of Hillary Clinton because "he is part of her organization."
Giuliani said that as he's not part of the campaign, that means he can't speak about it or give information about the campaign.
"Every time I've endorsed somebody, I've been part of the campaign, I speak for the campaign," said Giuliani. "But if you interpret that as an endorsement, it's an endorsement. If you interpret it in any way you shouldn't vote for Donald Trump, absolutely not."
But, said Giuliani, "Trump is clearly the best choice. He is the best choice for New York. He is the best choice for the country. Ted Cruz is a straight overhand fastball for Hillary Clinton.
"She'll knock him out of the park. Trump, she'll have no idea what to do with. He is a Mariano Rivera," Giuliani said, referring to the Yankees' star often referred to as "The Sandman."
"That's high praise from a Yankees fan," Cuomo told him.
"Democrats have been hitting very, very right wing Republicans like Cruz out of the ballpark for years," the former mayor responded, pointing out that he specifically said fastball, not "knuckle ball, screwball, or curve ball. I picked that on purpose."
And a little later in the morning, Giuliani repeated on Fox News that he's voting for Trump, but is not part of his campaign.
"I support him wholeheartedly," he told "America's Newsroom" host Bill Hemmer.
"I think he would make a good president. I'm just not part of the organization. I have almost no contact with the organization. I have contact indirectly with Donald. This is more of a personal thing."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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