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On Sunday, Rudy Giuliani told reporters that he had “felt a tremendous pain in my back” like “somebody shot me” after being slapped on the back by an employee at a Staten Island ShopRite. But after surveillance video of the incident showed the “slap” to be more along the lines of a semi-emphatic pat, Twitter users mocked the former New York City mayor — and questioned why he felt he had to have the man arrested.
Sunday afternoon, Giuliani was at the ShopRite to campaign for his son, Andrew Giuliani, who is running for the Republican nomination for New York Governor in this coming Tuesday’s primary election. A 39-year-old employee of the grocery store allegedly approached Giuliani, slapped him on the back, said “Hey, what’s up, scumbag?” and made comments referring the Supreme Court’s recent decision overturning Roe v. Wade. The man’s name was not immediately released and he was arrested at the scene.
Andrew Giuliani blamed “the left-wing”
The surveillance footage of this allegedly vicious assault that Giuliani said caused him “tremendous pain” and felt like being “shot” showed what many viewed as a far less dangerous contact.
That “slap” might not have been very brutal, but Twitter users’ reactions to the video definitely were. Giuliani’s comments to the Post saying he felt like he had to call the police on the man who “slapped” him drew further scrutiny and mockery:
The former federal prosecutor told The Post he felt it was his duty to call the cops — likening the decision to his tough-on-crime policies as mayor.“I say to myself, ‘You know something? I gotta get this guy arrested,’ ” he said. “I talk about ‘broken windows’ theory all the time. You can’t let the little things go.“I’m like, ‘I’m gonna get this guy arrested as an example that you can’t do this. And I
said, also, in New York, we don’t prosecute people anymore. And one of the reasons I brought crime down is I didn’t ignore stuff like this.”
“I gotta get this guy arrested.” Well then. Thank goodness the streets are safe from rampaging thugs going around patting people’s backs.