A supermarket employee slapped former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani in the back on Sunday while campaigning for his son, Andrew, who is running to become the state’s next governor.
The slap occurred at a ShopRite located on the island’s southwest end and reportedly shook up 78-year-old Giuliani. According to a witness, the police arrested the suspect, who was on duty at the time of the incident.
At approximately 3:30 p.m., a 39-year-old male approached Giuliani, slapped him in the mid-back, and said, “What’s up scumbag?,” a spokesperson from The Office of the Deputy Commissioner of Public Information told The Daily Wire.
Giuliani refused medical attention at the scene, and police took the attacker into custody.
Giuliani’s gubernatorial-candidate son, Andrew Giuliani, told The New York Post.
“My dad is tough as nails.”
Giuliani reportedly told The New York Post the slap almost knocked him down “but regained his composure—even as his attacked kept cursing at him.”
“He’s doing fine,” Andrew later said of his father, The New York Post reported. “But it’s a sad day when New Yorkers’ greatest crime fighter, ‘America’s Mayor,’ is attacked.
According to The New York Post, Giuliani’s said his father was in “good spirits” and claimed he “ran into the only person who is not voting for Andrew Giuliani.”
Giuliani’s son said he blames the left-wing for encouraging violence.
“This is crazy,” he told The New York Post.
Rudy Giuliani, the former lawyer of President Donald Trump, allegedly was posing for photos during the attack.
Dr. Maria Ryan, Giuliani’s partner, reportedly told The New York Post, “Rudy was assaulted.”
“He’s a 78-year-old man with a bad back and bad knees,” she said.
One witness said the incident “stunned” her.
“I was shoulder-to-shoulder with Rudy inside ShopRite,” Rugova-Johnson told The New York Post. “We’re talking, and all of a sudden an employee came out of nowhere and open-handedly slapped him in the back and said, ‘Hey, what’s up scumbag?'”
The Post reportedly said law-enforcement sources the suspect will be charged with second-degree assault involving a person over age 65. However, The Office of the Deputy Commissioner of Public Information told The Daily Wire that charges remain unknown at the time.
The man has no prior arrests.