Trump awards presidential freedom medal to Giuliani

The Presidential Freedom Medal is a prestigious award that has previously been presented to human rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. and to former President Ronald Reagan after he left office.

Despite various political controversies, U.S. President Donald Trump expressed strong confidence in former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and appointed him in June as an advisor under the Department of Homeland Security. The awarding of the medal this time is also seen as an extension of that support. Some analysts say it is also related to the Sept. 11 attacks. Ahead of the 24th anniversary of the attacks, Giuliani’s selection is seen as a deliberate move to rally hardline conservative voters, a key part of Trump’s base and to reinforce claims of election fraud.

Giuliani, of Italian descent, was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1944. He graduated from New York University School of Law and worked as an attorney. In 1983, he became U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, where he gained fame by dismantling major mafia organizations in a city plagued by violent crime and conducting sweeping investigations into various white-collar crimes on Wall Street.

Building on this momentum, he achieved the unusual feat of being elected mayor in 1994 as a Republican in heavily Democratic New York. When the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks occurred, he led rescue and recovery efforts at the site despite battling prostate cancer, earning the nickname “America’s Mayor.”

Giuliani lost his law license in New York, Washington, D.C., and other jurisdictions for spreading false claims and promoting conspiracy theories about election fraud during the 2020 presidential election. In July last year, a court ordered him to pay $148 million in damages. Unable to pay, he filed for personal bankruptcy.

On Aug. 30, Giuliani suffered a spinal fracture, multiple lacerations, and bruises in a car accident in New Hampshire. Some of his supporters suggested it might have been intentional, fueling conspiracy theories, but Giuliani denied the claims.


안규영 kyu0@donga.com