Monday was not a great day for baseball in New York. The temperature barely hung in the 70s and the skies were overcast. But the Memorial Day crowd packed the seats at Yankee Stadium as the home team took on the Houston Astros. Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, celebrating his 74th birthday, was in attendance.
During the game - the Yankees eventually lost 5-1 - the stadium's public address system cackled with the birthdays of people in attendance. "The New York Yankees wish a very happy birthday to Mayor Giuliani!" the announcer brightly said.
Then boos started filling Yankee Stadium.
The idea of Giuliani getting an ugly reception from a crowd at his home town would have seemed unthinkable a decade ago. But the boos underscore the former GOP presidential candidate's new reality as an attorney and cable news surrogate for President Trump.
Beloved after the 9/11 attacks for his poise and later dubbed, "America's Mayor," Giuliani now is most visible as a defender the president, using his television appearances to attack the credibility of special counsel Robert S. Mueller III's investigation into Russian collusion.
A day before his trip to the ballpark, Giuliani made an appearance on CNN's "State of the Union." Speaking with anchor Dana Bash, the president's legal adviser admitted much of the president's assertions about "Spygate" were "an intentional strategy to undermine the investigation."
"It is for public opinion, because eventually, the decision here is going to be impeach or not impeach," Giuliani told the host.
Whether the Monday crowd at Yankee saw Giuliani's crash assessment, many were not pleased by his attendance on Monday at the ballpark.
"Thunderous boos rained across the stadium," one commenter posted on Twitter. "Let's just say he didn't have many fans in the crowd today," another posted.
The author
No comments: