Trump Reportedly Snubbed Rudy Giuliani for Secretary of State Over Alleged Drinking Problem
Former President Donald Trump reportedly skipped over Rudy Giuliani’s interest being his Secretary of State because of the former New York mayor’s drinking habits, among other things.
Journalist Andrew Kirtzman, who covered Giuliani for years as a politics reporter in New York, appeared on The Daily Beast’s The New Abnormal podcast to discuss his upcoming book Giuliani: The Rise and Tragic Fall of America’s Mayor.
Kirtzman detailed the relationship between Giuliani and Trump throughout the years, saying “there was this kind of need that they both seemed to feel to impress the other. And I think that that still exists to this day.”
The book also described Giuliani’s struggles with alcohol. According to a previewed portion published last week, Giuliani fell into a depressed state after his disastrous run for president in 2008. Judith Giuliani, the former mayor’s third wife, told Kirtzman that Giuliani “started to drink more heavily” during this period, and they eventually moved down to Mar-a-Lago and were secretly housed by Trump during his recovery.
“It was there that Giuliani kind of was allowed to get back on his feet and rejoin the world,” Kirtzman told Molly Jong-Fast on The New Abnormal. “As [Judith] tells the story, he developed an alcohol problem, he was constantly falling down, and was kind of a mess that she had to help.”
Giuliani’s alleged “drinking problem” came up again later when Kirtzman noted Giuliani was rebuffed in his efforts to be named Trump’s secretary of state.
Kirtzman said during the campaign Trump promised Giuliani the job of secretary of state.
“That was the only job Giuliani wanted,” Kirtzman said. “He was offered attorney general, he turned it down. He was offered Homeland Security, he turned it down. He fashioned himself after his god-like perception as this statesman, even though he didn’t have 5 minutes experience with foreign policy.”
But Trump “started just hearing all of these negative stories about him, about his drinking,” Kirtzman said.
“Giuliani waged this campaign in the press to get the job, which turned Trump off,” Kirtzman said. “They launched an investigation internally in the campaign into Giuliani’s clients, and he had so many clients with potential conflicts that had filled a report, dozens of pages, and eventually Trump moved on.”
The secretary of state job eventually went to Rex Tillerson, who was fired by Trump a little more than a year into his administration.
Giuliani’s alleged drinking habits have drawn scrutiny while he faces questions over his efforts to overturn the 2020 election in his capacity as Trump’s personal attorney. During his testimony before the January 6 Committee, former Trump campaign senior adviser Jason Miller said Giuliani was intoxicated at the White House when he urged the former president to falsely declare victory on Election Night.
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