Once upon a time, Rudy Giuliani was a highly respected figure in US politics but now he’s just a guy who wants a lot and posts videos of himself using an Abraham Lincoln filter.
The former mayor of New York City and lawyer for Donald Trump shared a video of himself on Tuesday night attacking the former Democratic governor of Virginia Terry McAuliffe, who is running for his old job again.
However, for some reason, Giuliani decided that it would be either hilarious or an incredible put down on McAuliffe if he were to resemble one of the United States’s most celebrated presidents complete with the (albeit digital) top hat and beard.
#mcauliffeisbad just listen to Abe pic.twitter.com/tQbS9EVJ3Q
— Rudy W. Giuliani (@RudyGiuliani) October 19, 2021
In the video, Giuliani said: “Virginia, vote against the man who dishonoured our past by selling my bedroom hundreds and hundreds of times to scoundrels in a pay-for-play scheme!
“In my time, we had a name for men who sold bedrooms for one night. In your time, the name is Terry McAuliffe! End the Clinton sleaze once and for all!”
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This is apparently a reference to minor controversy in the early 1990s during the Clinton administration, who was accused of renting out the Lincoln Bedroom in the White House to campaign contributors. However, fact-checkers have since confirmed that despite being finance chairman for the Democratic National Committee at the time, McAuliffe had absolutely nothing to do with it.
This being said, Republicans have long used it as a metaphorical stick to beat McAuliffe with so perhaps Giuliani thought he was doing a funny skit at the expense of the Democrat.
Unfortunately, whatever laughs the 77-year-old was hoping to evoke instead made way for complete and utter bafflement as people struggled to make sense of what they were actually looking at.
what the https://t.co/Qp5Hv2ZWC5
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 20, 2021
Classy stuff https://t.co/mUN9JVuNv6
— Tim Heidecker (@timheidecker) October 19, 2021
Why does he look like an extra from Planet of the Apes? https://t.co/lDcFoQBFgC
— Jeff Pearlman (@jeffpearlman) October 20, 2021
How did we get from this to whatever that is? https://t.co/OIOhkEFpGT pic.twitter.com/q4PlU4ouZG
— Arshia Homayouni 🍦 🍨 🥁🗳 (@AHomayouniVA) October 20, 2021
The video that will haunt your nightmares https://t.co/8oYOftd1cD
— Mike Elgan (@MikeElgan) October 20, 2021
The pitch: A reality show about Rudy Giuliani's social-media person who hates him. https://t.co/SAXPnk5vVJ
— Tim Carvell (@timcarvell) October 20, 2021
In the grand scheme of things, this is hardly the weirdest thing that Giuliani has done in recent memory.
