Rudy Giuliani backpeddles on 9/11 comments

People Features

By Stone Martindale Aug 10, 2007, 20:30 GMT

Republican presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani said Friday that he "misspoke" when he said he spent as much time, if not more, at ground zero exposed to the same health risks as workers digging at the site after the Sept. 11 attacks. Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani EPA/JEFF KOWALSKY

Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani EPA/JEFF KOWALSKY"I think I could have said it better," he told nationally syndicated radio host Mike Gallagher. "You know, what I was saying was, 'I'm there with you.'"The AP reports the former New York mayor "struck a nerve with firefighters and police officers when he said Thursday in Cincinnati that he was at ground zero 'as often, if not more, than most of the workers.' ""I was there working with them. I was exposed to exactly the same things they were exposed to. So in that sense, I'm one of them," he told reporters at a Los Angeles Dodgers-Cincinnati Reds baseball game, according to the AP.It did not sit well with fire and police officials who responded angrily, saying Giuliani did not do the same work as those involved in the rescue, recovery and cleanup which resulted in many workers injured."I have a real problem with that statement," said Battalion Chief John McDonnell, head of the Uniformed Fire Officers Association in New York. "I think he's really grasping and trying to justify his previous attempts to portray himself as the hero of 9/11."Giuliani tried to assuage the situation, saying to the AP "he was trying to show his concern for the workers' health.""What I was trying to say yesterday is that I empathize with them, because I feel like I have that same risk," he said to the AP."There were people there less than me, people on my staff, who already have had serious health consequences, and they weren't there as often as I was," Giuliani said, "but I wasn't trying to suggest a competition of any kind, which is the way it come across."Giuliani's explanation did not have the calming effect he had hoped for. The angered ground zero Giuliani critics demanded an apology."He is such a liar, because the only time he was down there was for photo ops with celebrities, with politicians, with diplomats," said deputy fire chief Jimmy Riches, who spent months digging for his firefighter son, reports the AP."On 9/11 all he did was run. He got that soot on him, and I don't think he's taken a shower since."

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TedAug 11th, 2007 - 02:57:28

I get real tired of the holier than thou crap from the firefighters and police officers. yes i do appreciate what they do for us, so ACT like men instead of crying like friggin babies and taking statements like this and turning them around!!!

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RigabambooAug 11th, 2007 - 05:26:20

He is a Fraud, an outright fraud making blood money and trying to get elected of the dead firefighters and police officers of 9/11.

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kap909Aug 11th, 2007 - 05:32:38

Hey Ted, admit it, Rudy is a self promoting liar.

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BeginningAug 11th, 2007 - 16:09:38

of the end for Rudy.

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SP4: Another Look at RudyAug 11th, 2007 - 20:55:41

Someone in the libnazi press ought to review this mans' career. He was instrumental in cleaning up crime in New York, Cleaning up Times Square, and putting some of the worst Mobsters (John Gotti) in jail for life.

If you like voting for the tough guy, this is the one. I can't decide on him or Thompson, but I do like Rudy.

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No1UknowAug 12th, 2007 - 05:22:55

Saw an interview with a First Responder (NYC Fire Dept) who said that good 'ole Rudy didn't even bother visiting them after the 9/11 incident. Obviously, he was too busy trying to figure out how to cash out on this tragedy - and that he has. 9/11 happened under his watch - which says it all about this pathetic traitor.

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Rudy Giuliani backpeddles on 9/11 comments

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