EXCLUSIVE: Andrew Giuliani targets Cuomo and plans 2022 gubernatorial bid

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Andrew Giuliani, a former top aide to President Donald Trump and son of “America’s Mayor,” is “heavily considering” a bid for governor of New York in 2022, potentially setting up an epic clash between the two biggest political families in recent New York history.

“I plan to run,” Giuliani told Secrets.

“Outside of anybody named Trump, I think I have the best chance to win and take the state back, and I think there’s an opportunity in 2022 with a wounded Democratic candidate, whether it’s going to be Gov. [Andrew] Cuomo, whether it’s going to be a radical [Attorney General] Letitia James, whether it’s going to be a no-name lieutenant governor, I think there’s a very, very real chance to win,” he added.

A Giuliani-Cuomo race would be a Titanic battle of New York families, a liberal-conservative fight that the state hasn’t seen in years. Cuomo is the son of former three-term New York Gov. Mario Cuomo.

Cuomo is expected to run for a fourth term, but he has been bruised by his mishandling of the coronavirus crisis and a sex scandal. Political betting sites suggest his odds of winning a fourth term are poor.

Giuliani is the son of former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and worked in the Trump White House as a director of the Office of Public Liaison. While he has no elected experience, he has been part of his family’s political business for years, a training that has produced several successful candidates, notably former President George W. Bush, a former Texas governor. In Arkansas, Sarah Sanders, a former Trump spokeswoman and daughter of longtime Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, is running for governor there.

Andrew trump family.jpeg
Former President Trump with his top aide Andrew Giuliani and wife Zivile Rezgyte.

“I believe I can win the race,” he said. “I think I’m the right candidate, and this is the right time to help change New York State, and we’ve got a playbook that works,” said Giuliani.

He has been encouraged to enter the race by several big donors and allies, including former New York City Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik. He is also close to many advisers from the Trump White House and conservative circles.

Political strategist and communicator Boris Epshteyn, who served as special assistant to Trump, said, “Andrew worked tirelessly for President Trump in the White House while still having a smile on his face every day.” And, he added, “I know that he was specifically focused on issues vital to New Yorkers, including getting funds to 9/11 first responders and working to ensure that relief for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority would be included in the CARES Act.”

Trump has been advising him, though he has not picked a candidate to back yet. Giuliani said he considers Trump an “uncle,” since the families have known each other for decades. The two often golfed together during Trump’s four years in office.

A former Trump aide told Secrets that Trump and the Make America Great Again movement will back Giuliani.

While only 35 years old, the former golf executive has been described as unusually smart and diplomatic. He recently joined Newsmax as a political commentator, and Newsmax CEO Chris Ruddy said, “Andrew is a bright and articulate young conservative, and we’re glad he’s part of the Newsmax lineup.”

His mother is Donna Hanover, who Rudy Giuliani was married to for 18 years. He is married to real estate executive Zivile Rezgyte.

Giuliani said he plans to formalize a campaign after a planned April 19 meeting with the state Republican Party and potential 2022 candidates.

But he has already organized a platform that will challenge Cuomo’s handling of crime, taxes, education, and the mutiny of New Yorkers from the state.

“Whoever ends up winning is going to have to implement the Giuliani playbook on public safety, so who better to do that than a Giuliani?” he said.

“New York is going to be one of two states over the last decade to lose population. It just shows how terribly Cuomo has run the state into the ground, and the truth is the assembly in state Senate is to blame as well. It’s a combination of bail reform, increased taxes, and plummeting quality of life. So I think people will have to determine whether I am, you know, Giuliani 2.0 or whether I’m a new thing. I look forward to making my case and letting New Yorkers determine that for themselves,” he told Secrets.

Andrew Giuliani
Andrew Giuliani, Special Assistant to President Donald Trump, right, walks to a van after stepping off Air Force One at Morristown Municipal Airport in Morristown, N.J., Friday, July 24, 2020. Trump is spending the weekend at his golf club in nearby Bedminster, N.J.

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