Gothamist

A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.

Gothamist

WNYC Listen Live

Donate

News

Why Rudy 'Rasputin' Giuliani Would Be A Terrible Choice For Secretary Of State

Rebecca Fishbein

Published Nov 15, 2016

Modified Nov 15, 2016

FacebookTwitterRedditEmail

Never miss a story

Email address

By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .

Rebecca Fishbein

Published Nov 15, 2016

Modified Nov 15, 2016

FacebookTwitterRedditEmail

We rely on your support to make local news available to all

Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today

Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations

Rudy Giuliani, a man who, in this Harry Potter fanfic, would certainly be cast as Voldemort's sister, is reportedly at the top of the list for Secretary of State.

If chosen for this position, Giuliani's bat wings will fly him all over the world, where he'll be free to make negotiations with other nations and take some pointers on expanding Constitutional freedoms from Vladimir Putin. He'll also be responsible for advising Trump on foreign policy and will supervise our immigration policy abroad, which is great news, considering how historically welcoming Giuliani's been to people of color.

Trump's been teasing his Cabinet of Horrors for the last week, but this potential appointment hits close to home. Yes, Rudy Giuliani was heralded as America's Mayor in the aftermath of 9/11, but a couple inspiring speeches in the aftermath of tragedy—a tragedy he actually made worse—doesn't erase two mayoral terms worth of civil liberty violations, racism, cuts to education, tax increases on the middle class, health care failures, police brutality, and ferret bans.

I understand that Giuliani was a source of comfort after 9/11. I was here, so you don't have to send me condescending emails about how I "don't know" what Giuliani did for this city. He had a few good press conferences and was vaguely funny on SNL when we needed it. But Giuliani was never really a hero. Our future Crypt Keeper of State failed to set up an adequate terrorism attack response after the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, even though he crowed endlessly about how much experience he had in dealing with terrorism (he didn't). He stuck the Office of Emergency Management command center on the 23rd floor of 7 World Trade—despite the fact that the World Trade Center was already a proven terrorist target—and did not aid the office in preparing for large scale attacks.

He never established clear-cut protocols for fire and police departments or improved the 911 system, even though he collected tax money to do just that, so on 9/11 dispatchers were telling people who called in to stay put when they should have evacuated. Giuliani was accused, among other things, of failing to provide the World Trade Center's first responders with adequate radios and equipment, which led to a lot of confusion and probably a lot of deaths.

In the aftermath of 9/11, he did not push the Department of Environmental Protection to issue guidelines to test or clean up private buildings contaminated with asbestos, etc. from the collapsed Twin Towers, and he put the unprepared city Department of Design and Construction in control of recovery efforts instead of more able agencies like FEMA and the Army Corps of Engineers. He then spent the next 15 years exploiting a national tragedy for his own political gain.

But of course, Giuliani's sterling legacy isn't just limited to how he fucked up 9/11. His administration was the subject of 26 civil liberty violation cases, 22 of which it lost. It was during his administration that the police force implemented stop and frisk, an unconstitutional tactic that exacerbated already fraught tension between cops and minorities.

Giuliani, meanwhile, spent half a decade refusing to meet with top black elected leaders, claiming that spurning them could "accomplish more for the black community." It was only after the death of Amadou Diallo, the unarmed Guinean immigrant who was shot and killed in the Bronx by police officers in 1999, that Giuliani even bothered reaching out. Indeed, this history of apparent disdain for non-white constituents bodes poorly for citizens of foreign nations that may soon have to deal with Secretary of State Giuliani.

"This is a guy who was largely tone deaf to the needs and concerns of minority New Yorkers throughout his two terms," Tom Robbins, an investigative reporter who spent years chronicling the Giuliani administration's endless scandals for the Village Voice, told Gothamist. "Even with the bad police shootings that we had here, he was astonishingly inept in his responses." Robbins recalled the shooting of Patrick Dorismond, a security guard who was mistakenly killed by undercover police officers in March of 2000. "Giuliani insisted he had to be in the wrong, and produced his juvenile record, and told the press he was 'no altar boy," Robbins said. "It turned out, in fact, that he was an altar boy."

Robbins also pointed out Giuliani's misdoings at the Department of Justice, when he was an Assistant Attorney General in the Reagan Administration. Then, Giuliani was detailed to handle a burgeoning Haitian refugee problem, with thousands of Haitians fleeing dictator Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier.

"Giuliani made sure not only that Haitian refugees were held in essentially concentration camps, but he traveled to Haiti, he met with this dictator, pronounced him a fair ruler, and went and testified to Congress that there was no need for political refuge for those people, at the same time that Baby Doc was singling out his opponents and murdering them," Robbins said. "I just dread to think about him sitting down with Assad. These are people he has more in common with than opposition, I'm afraid."

Robbins added, "I fear Rudy could be the Rasputin of this administration."

It's also noteworthy that Giuliani's consulting firm has taken money from Venezuela, Qatar, and Iranian exiles, which is certainly a potential conflict of interest should he be Secretary of State (but let's point fingers at the Clinton Foundation!) Still, the other frontrunner for the appointment is former United Nations ambassador and outspoken war hawk John Bolton. Bolton notably pushed the Iraq War, called for the bombing of Iran, and has loudly criticized UN leadership.

Donald Trump will choose your poison.

Tagged

election 2016

rudy giuliani

secretary of state

trump's america

Rebecca Fishbein

Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations

MORE news

NY Archdiocese will soon settle $800M clergy sexual abuse claims

The deal would compensate over 1,300 alleged victims and help the church avoid bankruptcy.

Arya Sundaram

Published Oct 24, 2026 at 6:31 p.m. ET

Chinatown residents file lawsuit against after-hours construction on new 'mega jail'

Residents cite sleep disruption and dust-induced illness from nearly ‘round the clock’ construction.

Arya Sundaram

News

Chinatown residents file lawsuit against after-hours construction on new 'mega jail'

Residents cite sleep disruption and dust-induced illness from nearly ‘round the clock’ construction.

Arya Sundaram

Peepapalooza: NYC is heading to the Hudson Valley to watch the leaves

Elizabeth Shwe

and

Sean Carlson

NYPD: Officer shot, injured knife-wielding woman during ‘chaotic’ night at Queens home

Ryan Kost

3 slates vying to run Jersey City school board as city stares down major tax hikes

Michael Sol Warren

Never miss a story

Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.

Sign upEmail address

By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .