WASHINGTON—“America’s Mayor” has become Washington’s mystery.
Specifically: what the heck is going on with Rudy Giuliani?
Rudy Giuliani, the former New York City mayor, has emerged as one of the most prominent public spokespeople for U.S. President Donald Trump. He is shown here at the White House in July as Trump announces his Supreme Court nominee. (SAUL LOEB / AFP/GETTY IMAGES FILE PHOTO)
As White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders has receded from view, the former mayor of New York City has emerged as one of the most prominent public spokespeople for U.S. President Donald Trump.
Giuliani, a federal prosecutor and an associate attorney general in the 1980s, was hired in April to serve as a public pit bull on Trump’s legal team. Since then, he has sputtered out misstatements and clarifications so frequent and so head-spinning that some observers wonder if he is intentionally attempting to confuse people.
The general consensus seems to favour the simplest explanation: Giuliani is not trying to muddy the waters, just mucking things up.
“He was generally viewed as a smart guy and a skilled lawyer. There are very few traces of those qualities in his representation of Donald Trump,” lawyer Michael Bromwich, who worked under Giuliani in the federal prosecutor’s office, said in an email. (Bromwich now represents former FBI official Andrew McCabe and professor Christine Blasey Ford, both of whom Trump has criticized.) “He seems not well-steeped in the facts and poorly prepared for his many press interviews. Criminal defence lawyers generally don’t wing it; they harm their client’s interests when they do. Rudy appears to be winging it.”
Trump’s continued tolerance for Giuliani’s careless chattiness has confounded both the president’s aides and veteran political communicators.
“I don’t know why the president would allow him to go out and continue to talk,” said Rick Tyler, a former Republican spokesman and now a MSNBC political analyst.
Tyler said Giuliani is “out of control.” But he also said it is an “impossible task” to speak for a president whose lying is so “pathological” that top surrogates won’t work for him.
“Rudy is one of the few who are willing to go out there and damage his own reputation on behalf of the president. There just aren’t many people with stature willing to do that,” Tyler said.
The questions about Giuliani’s aptitude were renewed by bizarre performances in three interviews this week that seemed, again, to worsen Trump’s position.
“One wonders if everything’s all right with Rudy Giuliani,” Democratic Rep. Gerry Connolly said on CNN, adding, “He sounds like a crazy old uncle.”
Speaking to the New York Times, Giuliani said Trump’s discussions about building a Trump Tower in Moscow continued through the 2016 election, months longer than former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen has publicly specified. Adopting Trump’s voice, Giuliani said Trump told him the talks happened “from the day I announced to the day I won.”
The next day, Giuliani said he was not speaking for Trump at all. His previous words, he claimed, “were hypothetical, and not based on conversations I had with the president.”
In a Monday interview with the New Yorker, Giuliani mentioned going through “tapes” related to Trump and Cohen, then said “I shouldn’t have said tapes,” then said there are “no tapes,” then said there are unrelated tapes. He also claimed there were “no plans” and “no drafts” for the Moscow tower; detailed plans were published Tuesday by BuzzFeed. Last Wednesday, Giuliani said on CNN that he had “never said there was no collusion between the campaign or between people in the campaign,” appearing to hint at the possibility of collusion by people other than Trump; the next day, he issued a statement saying he had “no knowledge” of any such collusion.
Some associates lament that Giuliani is damaging the reputation he built after the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks. Giuliani told the New Yorker that he thinks his legacy might indeed be hurt.
“I am afraid it will be on my gravestone. ‘Rudy Giuliani: He lied for Trump.’ Somehow, I don’t think that will be it. But, if it is, so what do I care? I’ll be dead. I figure I can explain it to St. Peter,” he said.
He soon walked this back too, saying he was just joking.
Daniel Dale is the Star’s Washington bureau chief. He covers U.S. politics and current affairs. Follow him on Twitter: @ddale8
Get a taste of adventure with Starburst XXXtreme based on the legendary NetEnt Game. The nostalgic themes are sure to capture fans of the classic version as they get treated to higher intensity, better visuals, and features. The most significant element of the game is its volatility. Patience will not be an essential virtue considering the insane gameplay, and there is a lot of win potential involved. It retains the original makeup of the previous game while adding a healthy dose of adrenaline.
Starburst Visuals and Symbols
The game is definitely more conspicuous than before. The setting happens over a 5-reel, 3-row game grid with nine fixed win lines, which function if a succession from the left to the right reel is present. Only those players that that attain the highest win per bet line are paid. From a visual standpoint, the Starburst XXXtreme slots illustrates lightning effects behind the reels, which is not surprising as it is inherited from the original version. Available themes include Classic, Jewels, and Space. The game is also available in both desktop and mobile versions, which is advantageous for players considering the global pandemic. According to Techguide, American gamers are increasingly having more engaging gaming experiences to socialize to fill the gap of in-person interaction. Starburst XXXtreme allows them to fill the social void at a time when there is so much time to be had indoors.
Starburst XXXTreme Features
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The new feature is sure to be a big hit with the gaming market as online gambling has shown significant growth during the lockdown. AdAge indicates the current casino customer base is an estimated one in five Americans, so Starburst XXXtreme’s additional features will achieve considerable popularity.
What We Think About The Game
The gambling market has continued to diversify post-pandemic, so it is one of the most opportune times to release an online casino-based game. Thankfully Starburst XXXtreme features eye-catching visuals, including the jewels and space themes. These attract audience participation and make the gameplay inviting. The game also has a nostalgic edge. The previous NetEnt iteration featured similar visuals and gameplay, so the audience has some familiarity with it. The producers have revamped this version by tweaking the features to improve the volatility and engagement.
That is characterized by the potential win cap of 200,000 times the bet. Starburst XXXtreme does not just give betting alternatives for players that want to go big. The increase of multipliers also provides a great experience. If the respins in the previous version were great, knowing that multipliers can go hundreds of times overtakes the game to a new level.
Players should get excited about this offering. All of the features can be triggered within a single spin. Whether one plays the standard game or takes the XXXtreme spin route, it is possible to activate all of the features. Of course, the potential 200,000 times potential is a huge carrot. However, the bet size is probably going to be restricted and vary depending on the casino. It is also worth pointing out that a malfunction during the gameplay will void all of the payouts and progress. Overall, the game itself has been designed to provide a capped win of 200,000 times the original bet.
In the city’s entertainment district, a musical act was conducting a sound check on stage Friday evening — the second day of the French-language version of the renowned Just For Laughs comedy festival. Tickets for many of the festival’s free outdoor shows — limited by COVID-19 regulations — were sold out.
Two blocks away, more than 100 people were watching an acoustic performance by the Isaac Neto Trio — part of the last weekend of the Festival International Nuits d’Afrique, a celebration of music from the African continent and the African diaspora.
With COVID-19 restrictions continuing to limit capacity, festival organizers say they’re glad to be back but looking forward to next year when they hope border restrictions and capacity limits won’t affect their plans.
Charles Décarie, Just For Laughs’ CEO and president, said this is a “transition year.”
“Even though we have major constraints from the public health group in Montreal, we’ve managed to design a festival that can navigate through those constraints,” Décarie said.
The French-language Juste pour rire festival began on July 15 and is followed by the English-language festival until July 31.
When planning began in February and March, Décarie said, organizers came up with a variety of scenarios for different crowd sizes, ranging from no spectators to 50 per cent of usual capacity.
“You’ve got to build scenarios,” he said. “You do have to plan a little bit more than usual because you have to have alternatives.”
MONTREAL — MELS Studios will build a new film studio in Montreal, filling some of the gap in supply to meet the demand of Hollywood productions.
MELS president Martin Carrier said on Friday that MELS 4 studio construction will begin « as soon as possible », either in the fall or winter of next year. The studio could host productions as early as spring 2023.
The total investment for the project is $76 million, with the Quebec government contributing a $25 million loan. The project will create 110 jobs, according to the company.
The TVA Group subsidiary’s project will enable it to stand out « even more » internationally, according to Quebecor president and CEO Pierre Karl Péladeau. In the past, MELS Studios has hosted several major productions, including chapters of the X-Men franchise. The next Transformers movie is shooting this summer in Montreal.
Péladeau insisted that local cultural productions would also benefit from the new facility, adding that the studio ensures foreign revenues and to showcase talent and maintain an industry of Quebec producers.
STUDIO SHORTAGE
The film industry is cramped in Montreal.
According to a report published last May by the Bureau du cinéma et de la télévision du Québec (BCTQ), there is a shortage of nearly 400,000 square feet of studio space.
With the addition of MELS 4, which will be 160,000 square feet, the company is filling part of the gap.
Carrier admitted that he has had to turn down contracts because of the lack of space, representing missed opportunities of « tens of millions of dollars, not only for MELS, but also for the Quebec economy. »
« Montreal’s expertise is in high demand, » said Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante, who was present at the announcement.
She said she received great testimonials from « Netflix, Disney, HBO and company » during an economic mission to Los Angeles in 2019.
« What stands out is that they love Montreal because of its expertise, knowledge and beauty. We need more space, like MELS 4, » she said.
There is still not enough capacity in Quebec, acknowledged Minister of Finance, the Economy and Innovation Eric Girard.
« It is certain that the government is concerned about fairness and balance, so if other requests come in, we will study them with the same seriousness as we have studied this one, » he said.
Grandé Studios is the second-largest player in the industry. Last May, the company said it had expansion plans that should begin in 2022. Investissement Québec and Bell are minority shareholders in the company.
For its part, MELS will have 400,000 square feet of production space once MELS 4 is completed. The company employs 450 people in Quebec and offers a range of services including studio and equipment rentals, image and sound postproduction, visual effects and a virtual production platform.