Donald Trump’s former lawyer Rudy Giuliani was in attendance for a New York Yankees fan event on Sunday, despite claiming to have boycotted the team for years over their support for the Black Lives Matter movement.
Giuliani, who served as Mayor of New York from 1994 up until 2001, revealed last summer that he has been boycotting the Yankees because of their stance towards BLM – the controversial political and social movement which seeks to combat racism.
After also distancing himself from the LA Dodgers due to their ‘Pride Night’ invitation to a drag group that satirizes nuns, which he declared a ‘war on Christianity’, the 79-year-old said: ‘I did that with the Yankees when they supported Black Lives Matter.
‘Sorry, I love my country more than baseball.’
Though despite steering clear of Yankees Stadium due to the BLM movement, Giuliani still found the time to pose for photos and sign autographs at a Yankees fan event in New Jersey on Sunday.
Donald Trump’s former lawyer Rudy Giuliani was in attendance for a Yankees fan event Sunday
Giuliani, who served as Mayor of New York from 1994 up until 2001, revealed last summer that he has been boycotting the Yankees because of their stance towards Black Lives Matter
The American politician is a longtime ally and ex-lawyer of former US President Donald Trump
After being invited to ‘Pinstripe Pride 2024’, which also featured former players Goose Gossage, Wade Boggs and Bernie Williams, he mingled with both Yankees greats and supporters at the American Dream Mall in East Rutherford.
Giuliani, a longtime ally of former US President Trump, grew up in Brooklyn and became a Yankees fan through his father despite living closer to the Dodgers’ former home stadium.
‘During my eight years as mayor, the Yankees won four World Championships,’ the American politician and lawyer, who appeared at the Yankees event courtesy of sports-memorabilia giants HallofFameSignings.com, said on Sunday. ‘Their resurgence happened at the same time that New York went from a place considered impossible to govern, to the leading example of Urban Renaissance.
‘The Yankees, as well as the Mets and all the New York sports teams helped bigtime in the recovery of the city following the terror attacks of September 11 2001. I will always have a special place in my heart for these guys and this team.’
Back in December Giuliani declared bankruptcy after being ordered to pay $148million in a defamation lawsuit over lies he spread about two former Georgia election workers that upended their lives with racist threats and harassment.
The damages verdict followed emotional testimony from Wandrea ‘Shaye’ Moss and her mother, Ruby Freeman, who tearfully described becoming the target of a false conspiracy theory pushed by Giuliani and other Republicans as they tried to keep then-President Trump in power after he lost the 2020 election.
Giuliani found the time to sign autographs at a Yankees fan event in New Jersey on Sunday
He also posed for photos alongside a number of fans after appearing at Pinstripe Pride 2024
Giuliani recently declared bankruptcy after being madeto pay $148m in a defamation lawsuit
There was an audible gasp in the courtroom when the jury foreperson read aloud the $75m award in punitive damages for the women. Moss and Freeman were each awarded another roughly $36m in other damages.
A group of people and businesses who say they are owed money by Giuliani gathered virtually Friday for the first court hearing since he declared bankruptcy.
During a two-hour Zoom hearing, an attorney for Giuliani told a U.S. bankruptcy judge that the former New York City mayor lacks the funds to pay the $148m he owes the election workers for spreading a conspiracy about their role in the 2020 election. Others with claims against Giuliani should expect to wait as well.
‘There’s no pot of gold at the end of the rainbow,’ the attorney, Gary Fischoff, said, noting that Giuliani was making his living as a radio and podcast host while dealing with a wide range of ‘financial issues.’