"He left me no option": Giuliani canned from conservative radio show, due to election lies

Giuliani, who filed for bankruptcy in December, lost one of his few remaining sources of income

Published May 11, 2024 12:31PM (EDT)

Rudy Giuliani speaks to members of the media where Republican candidate Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis was scheduled to host a campaign event on January 21, 2024 in Manchester, New Hampshire. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
Rudy Giuliani speaks to members of the media where Republican candidate Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis was scheduled to host a campaign event on January 21, 2024 in Manchester, New Hampshire. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

Rudy Giuliani’s daily talk show on WABC — a New York radio station — was canceled Friday, after he ignored repeated warnings about denying the legitimacy of the 2020 election on air.

WABC’s owner and GOP donor John Catsimatidis, who runs his own talk show on the station, said he repeatedly warned him, prior to cutting him loose. 

“We warned him once. We warned him twice. And I get a text from him last night, and I get a text from him this morning, that he refuses not to talk about it,” Catsimatidis told the New York Times. “So, he left me no option. I suspended him.”

Catsimatidis, who co-chaired a massive April fundraiser for former President Donald Trump, told Giuliani not to speak on “the legitimacy of the election results, allegations of fraud effectuated by election workers, and your personal lawsuits relating to those allegations” in a letter read aloud by Giuliani on his podcast Friday night.

Once a powerful attorney and the mayor of New York City, he was canned from one of his few remaining jobs, deep in financial woes and reportedly overspending on a $43,000-a-month budget set by a bankruptcy court. He will still be able to broadcast his daily podcast, on which he continues to spew election misinformation.

Charged with conspiring to overturn the 2020 election in Georgia and Arizona, Giuliani also lost a slew of civil cases involving false statements, including a defamation suit from Georgia election officials. 

“What John Catsimatidis has done is disgraceful,” Giuliani said on his podcast. “You can’t tell somebody not to talk about the 2020 presidential election and tell me that you have a respect for free speech.”

He has repeatedly denied being aware of a policy prohibiting him from discussing the election, but said he had been issued a warning letter. Maria Ryan, a regular co-host on Giuliani’s show, was also reportedly fired.


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