WABC station management cancels Rudy Giuliani's program following his refusal to stay silent on unfounded 2020 election hoax rumors.
The previous host of a daily radio show on AM station WABC, Giuliani (formerly the mayor of New York City and a lawyer for ex-president Trump), was taken off the airwaves this Friday. This followed his repeating of unfounded allegations of election rigging in 2020.
In recent months, John Catsimatidis – a GOP donor and owner of the radio station – had already warned Giuliani against making claims of voting manipulation involving electronic systems in the 2020 election. He confirmed he had received a letter in January 2021 from Dominion Voting Systems, a targeted company for such accusations. The station had directed its hosts, including Giuliani, to steer clear of the subject, but to no avail.
Catsimatidis reported to the press that Giuliani all but admitted he agreed not to discuss the matter further. However, he was also given warnings, especially recently, about any suggestion of electoral manipulation at all.
While Dominion issued a letter to Giuliani on January 28 reminding him of this, they received no compliance, as the host aired another episode discussing the situation. And when confronted about the matter via text that same day, Giuliani later texted back, "I am disregarding every order given in this letter."
After violating the agreement and stiff-arming company policy, Giuliani was terminated by the station. His show dropped off the schedule on Monday, and its webpage was removed.
This may add to the financial difficulties impacting Giuliani already. He is due millions in legal fees and owes nearly $150 million to the Georgia election workers involved in the defamation lawsuit against him, the same as Fox News settled with Dominion for in a record-breaking $787-million settlement. Two more voting technology companies – Smartmatic and One America News – have also reached settlements for airing false claims, though the details haven't been shared.
Giuliani is also facing criminal charges in Georgia and Arizona for lies related to overturning the 2020 election. Catsimatidis mentioned that Giuliani is apparently paid by Newsmax, which is making a case against WABC with Dominion.
Catsimatidis assured CNN he wouldn't risk WABC on matters like this, but hadn't made a final decision about Giuliani's position. He prioritized face-to-face meetings, but Giuliani was in Florida due to a bad knee at the time, so no such meeting occurred. Although unwilling to fire him if he's open to a sit-down, Catsimatidis did add that talk of the electronic voting machines was a non-starter, "where there is absolutely zero, no way will we allow that to happen."
Amid the radio station's decision, Giuliani aired an episode of his YouTube series, "America's Mayor Live," the same day as his dismissal. He called the move a violation against free speech.
"You fired me to interfere in the election – because once a Democrat, always a Democrat – and you're sucking up to them, John," Giuliani railed on the show.
Giuliani didn't reply to a request for comment from CNN.
Regarding the possibility of termination, Catsimatidis mentioned that, as a general rule, he avoids firing someone until they've had a chance to discuss it in person. At that point, he would meet with the former mayor, but if such a meeting fails to materialize, he might reassess Giuliani's position.
The key issue, confirmed by Catsimatidis, remains the mention of the electronic machines. "That's absolutely zero, no way will we allow that to happen."
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In light of Giuliani's continued discussions about electronic voting machines, John Catsimatidis, the owner of WABC, publicly stated, "That's absolutely zero, we will not allow that to happen in our business." Furthermore, dominant media outlet CNN reported that Catsimatidis is exploring legal action against Giuliani's new platform, Newsmax, for allegedly spreading false election claims.
Source: edition.cnn.com
