Giuliani says judge in Trump defamation case is a ‘disgrace’

by Lauren Irwin - 01/27/24 2:20 PM ET

Former Mayor of New York Rudy Giuliani arrives at the federal courthouse in Washington, Wednesday, Dec. 13, 2023. The trial will determine how much Rudy Giuliani will have to pay two Georgia election workers who he falsely accused of fraud while pushing President Donald Trump's baseless claims after he lost the 2020 election. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana) — Former Mayor of New York Rudy Giuliani arrives at the federal courthouse in Washington, Wednesday, Dec. 13, 2023. The trial will determine how much Rudy Giuliani will have to pay two Georgia election workers who he falsely accused of fraud while pushing President Donald Trump’s baseless claims after he lost the 2020 election. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Rudy Giuliani defended former President Trump after a jury ordered him to pay $83.3 million for defaming columnist E. Jean Carroll and called the presiding judge, U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan, a “disgrace.”

“Well, the judge is a disgrace to the greatest court in America. It’s called the mother court, United States District Court for the Southern District of New York,” Giuliani said on Newsmax on Friday after the ruling, highlighted by Mediaite. “It’s had some of the greatest judges in American history. This judge is a pure disgrace.”

Giuliani, the former New York City mayor-turned-Trump attorney, criticized Kaplan over his conduct with the attorneys in the trial.

Trump was ordered to pay Carroll the large sum of money for defaming her in 2019 when he denied her accusations that he sexually assaulted her in the 1990s. It’s the second time Carroll has won damages from Trump at trial, adding to the previous $5 million she received last year when a verdict found Trump liable for sexually abusing her and defaming her over a separate comment.

Giuliani, defending the former president, said Trump was found “not guilty or not liable for rape.”

“It was sexual assault. Not rape,” he said. “And second, you can be guilty of rape and still, a person can be a wacko.”

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He argued that Trump was able to defend himself against Carroll’s accusation and the defamation she caused him.

Trump has vowed to appeal the “ridiculous” defamation ruling. He said he disagrees with both verdicts and will be appealing the “Biden Directed Witch Hunt” that is focused on him and the Republican Party.

Giuliani, a longtime Trump ally, was ordered by a jury in December to pay $148 million in damages to two former Georgia election workers he claimed committed fraud in the 2020 presidential election.

After Trump lost the 2020 election, Giuliani led unsuccessful legal efforts that attempted to overturn President Biden’s victory.