Newsmax host Greg Kelly told Rudy Giuliani on the air on Monday that he doubted whether the former New York City mayor was seriously in danger when he was slapped on the back by a ShopRite worker on Staten Island on Sunday.
“I gotta be honest, it doesn’t look that bad,” Kelly told Giuliani during an interview.
Giuliani was on Staten Island to campaign for his son, Andrew, who is running for the Republican nomination for the state’s governorship. The store worker reportedly said to Giuliani: “Hey, what’s up, scumbag?”
Security video released by the store shows the employee lightly patting Giuliani on the back, but the former mayor insisted that his life was in danger.
Daniel Gill, 39, who was still dressed in his ShopRite uniform following his Sunday arrest, was free on Monday after the assault charges were downgraded.
“He hit me to knock me down and if that doesn’t merit jail time in New York, we’re in the Wild, Wild West,” Giuliani said on Monday.
During his Newsmax appearance, which was cited by the online news site Mediaite, Kelly asked Giuliani about background noise at the start of the interview.
“Hey, Mr. Mayor, is somebody mowing the lawn right outside your window?” Kelly asked.
“I can barely hear you.”
To which the former mayor replied: “Yeah, we’re at a big rally in Staten Island right around the corner from where I was attacked yesterday.”
Kelly then played footage of the encounter at the ShopRite.
“I’m gonna show the people what happened,” said Kelly, the son of former NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly.
“This person with the hand on your back, I gotta be honest, it doesn’t look that bad. But I understand that looks can be deceiving.”
The video shows a woman gently putting her hand on Giuliani’s back after the worker slapped him.
Giuliani told Kelly that he was apparently paying attention to the woman.
“You know that was, that was the woman who was rubbing my back, not the guy who [hit me],” Giuliani said.
Kelly smirked on air and then re-ran the footage of the encounter.
“All right, good. Well, that makes sense,” the host said.
“Well look, I’m sorry you were roughed up, but the campaign trail is crazy — are you in a monster truck rally?! What’s going on there in Staten Island?!”
Giuliani then talked about the campaign rally that he attending for his son.
