WABC Radio suspends Rudy Giuliani for violating its ban on discussing discredited 2020 election claims

NEW YORK (AP) — Rudy Giuliani was suspended from WABC Radio on Friday and his daily show was canceled because the station repeatedly violated a ban on discussing discredited 2020 election claims. Giuliani said the channel’s ban was too broad and “a clear violation of free speech.”

Giuliani issued a statement saying he learned of WABC Radio owner John Catsimatidis’ decision through “a leak” to The New York Times. Catsimatidis confirmed his decision in a text message to The Associated Press.

Giuliani “left me no choice,” Catsimatidis told the Times, saying the former New York mayor was twice warned against discussing “errors of the November 2020 election.”

“And I got a text from him last night and I get a text from him this morning saying he refuses not to talk about it,” the Republican businessman, who has raised funds for Donald Trump, told the newspaper.

As Trump’s personal lawyer, Giuliani was a key figure in the former president’s attempts to overturn the 2020 election results and stay in office.

Giuliani denied that he was informed of the ban in advance.

“John is now telling reporters that I was informed of these restrictions in advance, which is demonstrably untrue,” Giuliani said in a statement. Later Friday, Giuliani noted in a video stream on social media that he had repeatedly spoken about claims that the election was stolen on his show for years, perhaps even on every broadcast or every other broadcast.

“If there was such a policy, it would be crazy to continue to use it,” Giuliani said. “You think I’m an idiot?”

A letter Catsimatidis received to Giuliani, dated Thursday, said Giuliani was prohibited from engaging in discussions related to the 2020 election.

“These specific issues include, but are not limited to, the legitimacy of the election results, allegations of fraud by election workers, and your personal grievances related to these allegations,” the letter states.

Ted Goodman, Giuliani’s spokesman and adviser, said Giuliani did not know about the policy before Thursday.

“WABC’s decision comes at a very suspicious time, just months before the 2024 election, and just as John and WABC continue to be pressured by Dominion Voting Systems and the Biden regime’s lawyers,” Giuliani said in his statement.

Late last month, Giuliani was one of 18 people indicted by a grand jury in Arizona for their role in trying to overturn Trump’s defeat in 2020. At the time, his spokesman, Goodman, criticized what he called “the continued weaponization of our justice system.”

Giuliani filed for bankruptcy in December, shortly after a jury ruled that he must pay $148 million to two former Georgia poll workers for telling lies about their roles in the 2020 election. Despite the ruling, Giuliani continued to repeat his stolen election claims, insisting that he had done nothing wrong and indicating that he would continue to push his claims even if it meant losing all his money or going to prison.

The bankruptcy prompted a diverse coalition of creditors to come forward, including a supermarket worker thrown in jail for tapping him on the back, two voting technology companies he spread conspiracies about, a woman who said he had her forced into sex, and several of them his former lawyers, the IRS and Hunter Biden, who claims Giuliani illegally shared his personal information.

In early April, a New York bankruptcy judge allowed Giuliani to remain in his Florida condo and declined to rule on a petition from creditors that would have forced him to sell the Palm Beach property. But the judge pointed to more “draconian” measures if the former mayor doesn’t comply with requests for information about his spending habits. The next hearing in the case was scheduled for Tuesday.

Jocelyn Noveck, The Associated Press