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The decision places the award on a man once lauded for leading
New York after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and later sanctioned
by courts and disbarred for amplifying false claims about the
2020 election. Giuliani was also criminally charged in two
states; he has denied wrongdoing.
Trump in a statement on social media called Giuliani the
“greatest Mayor in the history of New York City, and an equally
great American Patriot.”
For much of the past two decades, Giuliani’s public life has
been defined by a striking rise and fall. After leading New York
through the aftermath of Sept. 11, he mounted a brief campaign
for the Republican presidential nomination and became one of the
most recognizable political figures in the country. But as
Trump’s personal lawyer, he became a central figure in efforts
to overturn the 2020 election. Courts repeatedly rejected the
fraud claims he advanced, and two former Georgia election
workers won a $148 million defamation judgment against him.
The election workers, Ruby Freeman and Wandrea “Shaye” Moss,
said Giuliani's efforts to promote Trump’s lies about the
election being stolen led to death threats that made them fear
for their lives.
Giuliani was disbarred in New York and Washington for repeatedly
making false statements about the election, and he was
criminally charged in Georgia and Arizona in connection with
efforts to undo Trump’s loss to Democrat Joe Biden.
Giuliani, 81, was hospitalized after the Saturday night
collision in New Hampshire. State police said he was a passenger
in a rented Ford Bronco driven by his spokesperson, Ted Goodman,
when the vehicle was struck from behind by a Honda HR-V.
Giuliani suffered a fractured thoracic vertebra along with
multiple lacerations, contusions and injuries to his left arm
and leg, according to his security chief, Michael Ragusa. On
Monday, Ragusa said Giuliani remained in the hospital but was
expected to be released “soon.”
The Medal of Freedom, established in 1963, is awarded to
individuals who have made especially meritorious contributions
to the security or national interests of the United States,
world peace, or cultural or other significant public endeavors.
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