NEW YORK CITY (NewsNation Now) — Andrew Giuliani says his experience in the Trump administration makes him qualified to be New York’s next governor and he would support a 2024 Trump bid for president.
In an interview with NewsNation, Giuliani discussed his candidacy along with the FBI’s recent raid on his father, Rudy Giuliani’s, home and what could be next for former president Donald Trump.
Tuesday the former special assistant to president Donald Trump officially announced his bid for the Governor’s mansion in 2022.
When asked about his qualifications, he cited his four years working with the private sector in the Office of Public Liaison under the Trump administration.
“The Paycheck Protection Program, that’s something that came directly out of our office through the Treasury Department, and the White House on top of that. I ended up working on the CARES Act and making sure that the [Metropolitan Transportation Authority] got their two tranches of funding under President Trump,” said Giuliani.
He is facing off against U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin of Long Island and former Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino in the Republican primary. If he won, he would face current Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo.
“So the truth is, I may be 35 years old, I may end up being the youngest governor surpassing only Teddy Roosevelt, but I’ve got 32 years of experience in this,” he said. “I think I might have a lot more experience than some of the people that look a little older than me.”
He did not shy away from the benefit of running for Governor as a Giuliani saying that it “absolutely helps me.”
His father, Rudy Giuliani, served as mayor of New York City from 1994 to 2001. Before that, he was the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York from 1983-1989.
“I’m so proud of my father,” he said. “When people think of Rudy Giuliani, he is the greatest prosecutor, not just in the history of the Southern District, but probably in the history of our country. When you think of Rudy Giuliani’s, he’s the greatest mayor in history in New York City, probably the greatest mayor in the history of our country.”
He added that while it does help him, “my policies are policies that should appeal to all New Yorkers, whether or not you’re red or whether you’re blue.”
Rudy Giuliani’s home was raided by the FBI last month with agents seizing computers and cell phones. The senior Giuliani is being investigated by Justice Department over his business dealings in Ukraine.
His son strongly pushed back that his father committed any wrongdoings in his business dealings. Giuliani remarked that other news outlets correcting their original reporting is a sign his father will be exonerated.
“The FBI and the Justice Department started looking into my father on May 1, 2018,” he said. “You know, the significance of that date? That was the day that my father first started representing President Donald J. Trump. That’s all I’ll say. I mean, if your viewers can’t figure out that this is political, then they’re just not independent minded.”
He told NewsNation his father is currently helping Giuliani run his campaign for Governor.
“He’s been a great asset to me in talking with him about how to launch this campaign and how to win New York back,” said Giuliani.
When asked about the political future for Trump, he said the 2022 midterms will influence any future presidential runs for the former president and Giuliani would support his bid if he runs.
For another high profile Republican figure, Representative Liz Cheney (R-Wyoming), he had a harsher view of her political future. “I think it’s been foolish of her going against Donald Trump. She’d been ousted. And I’m very proud of Conference Chair Stefanik. But I was not happy with the recent comments from Liz Cheney.”
Cheney was ousted from her position as third in command of the House Republican leadership over her vocal opposition to Trump’s assertions the 2020 election was stolen. She said the night before the vote, “I will not sit back and watch in silence while others lead our party down a path that abandons the rule of law and joins the former President’s crusade to undermine our democracy.”
Giuliani pushed back that other Republicans should fear similar retaliation if they speak out against Trump.
“Well, I think it’s different to disagree and to impeach, right, there’s a very big difference, right?” Giuliana said. “I mean, there were times in the White House where I disagreed with President Trump. I did agree with them 100% of the time or on 100% of the things that we did, I did, certainly the overwhelming amount of time, it’s very different thing to disagree privately, and to disagree with someone publicly than to impeach him.”
Watch the full interview in the player above