A 2021 Speech Rudy Giuliani Gave About The Queen Is Going Viral For All The Wrong Reasons

Once declared "America's Mayor," Rudy Giuliani's reputation has taken a serious hit since then. His appointment as lead lawyer for the former-president Donald Trump baffled many, and his alleged ties to Ukraine during the 2020 presidential election led to a federal investigation (per The New York Times). Giuliani's New York law license was suspended because of his false claims about the election. Now, a resurfaced speech he made last year is sparking outrage in the wake of Queen Elizabeth II's death. 

For his leadership and comfort to British families following the terror attacks of September 11, 2001, the Queen bestowed an honorary knighthood on Giuliani. He was one of only 27 Americans to receive the title during her long reign, according to Newsweek. But at an event commemorating the 20th anniversary of that tragic day, Giuliani turned the honor into a joke that many found tasteless. In this tweeted clip from 2021, Giuliani mocked the Queen's diction, and said she had made him "an honorary knight — commander of the royal something-or-other." He went on to claim — inaccurately — that he turned down the knighthood because it would have meant renouncing his American citizenship. Giuliani then veered from the topic of 9/11 altogether by joking about the sex scandal surrounding Prince Andrew.

Responses on Twitter included such reactions as "disgraceful," "a major embarrassment," and "drunken fool." One comment summed it up: "In one statement, he manages to bring shame on two different countries simultaneously."