US5 min(s) read
Published 13:22 04 May 2026 GMT
Donald Trump has been criticised for the way he chose to react to news of Rudy Giuliani being hospitalised in critical condition, with the president swiftly turning the announcement into yet another attack on his political opponents.
Giuliani's spokesperson confirmed on Sunday (May 3) that the 81-year-old former New York City mayor and Trump's former personal lawyer was in 'critical but stable' condition at a hospital in Florida.
Trump's response on Truth Social drew immediate backlash for what critics described as 'unhinged' political opportunism in the face of a friend's medical emergency.
In a post shared shortly after the news broke, Trump opened with brief words of support for his long-time ally, before launching into a lengthy attack on Democrats.
"Our fabulous Rudy Giuliani, a True Warrior, and the Best Mayor in the History of New York City, BY FAR, has been hospitalized, and is in critical condition," the 79-year-old president wrote.
He then went on: "What a tragedy that he was treated so badly by the Radical Left Lunatics, Democrats ALL — AND HE WAS RIGHT ABOUT EVERYTHING!"
"They cheated on the Elections, fabricated hundreds of stories, did anything possible to destroy our Nation, and now, look at Rudy. So sad!"
The post appeared to link Giuliani's medical condition directly to his role in attempting to overturn Trump's loss to Joe Biden in the 2020 election, the very efforts that led to his disbarment in two jurisdictions and a $148 million defamation judgment against him.
The post was immediately seized on by critics, who accused Trump of using a friend's hospitalisation to score political points.
The Daily Beast called it a 'bonkers attack on Democrats,' noting that the president 'wasted little time before politicizing the announcement, firing off a Truth Social post in which he offered few words of concern for his former personal lawyer, instead launching into a rant about Democrats.'
The Giuliani post came at the end of a wider Truth Social posting spree, which ran across the evening and saw the president fire off attacks on a range of political opponents.
Three hours later, just before 11pm, Trump returned with another post urging Republicans to "TERMINATE THE FILIBUSTER, AND WIN!!!"
Critics on social media were quick to share the post, with many describing it as further evidence of erratic behaviour that has dominated Trump's recent late-night Truth Social activity.
The president has increasingly come under scrutiny for the volume and content of his late-night posting, which has previously included AI-generated images of himself depicted as Jesus Christ and a Trump-branded hotel on the Moon.
Giuliani's spokesperson Ted Goodman confirmed the hospitalisation in a Sunday evening statement, but did not disclose the cause.
"Mayor Giuliani is a fighter who has faced every challenge in his life with unwavering strength, and he's fighting with that same level of strength as we speak," Goodman said.
"We do ask that you join us in prayer for America's Mayor Rudy Giuliani."
The cause of the hospitalisation has not been disclosed.
Giuliani had hosted his online show America's Mayor Live from Palm Beach, Florida on Friday night.
As he opened the broadcast, he noted his voice was 'a little bit under the weather' after coughing, and said he wouldn't be able to speak as loudly as usual.
It is not the first time Giuliani has been hospitalised in recent years.
Last year, he suffered a spinal fracture and other injuries when his vehicle was rear-ended at high speed in New Hampshire, and he attended the 2025 9/11 Commemoration Ceremony in a wheelchair.
Once known as 'America's Mayor' for his response to the September 11 attacks, Giuliani's reputation took a heavy hit during and after his time as Trump's personal lawyer.
He was disbarred in New York in July 2024 after an appeals court found he had 'flagrantly misused his prominent position as the personal attorney for Trump and his campaign' to spread false and at times 'perjurious' claims about the 2020 election.
He was disbarred in Washington, D.C. two months later.
He was also found liable in federal court in Washington, D.C. for defaming two Georgia election workers, mother and daughter Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss, who were awarded nearly $148 million in damages in 2023. He later settled with the pair.
He faced state charges in Georgia and Arizona in connection with efforts to overturn the 2020 election result, and was named as an unindicted co-conspirator in special counsel Jack Smith's federal election interference case against Trump.
In November 2025, Trump issued Giuliani a 'full, complete, and unconditional' pardon as part of a wider clemency package extended to 76 of his allies.
The pardons were viewed as largely symbolic, since presidents do not have the power to pardon state-level crimes.
Trump also announced in September that he would award Giuliani the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Giuliani's son Andrew is currently serving as executive director of the presidential task force for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which the United States is co-hosting with Canada and Mexico.
Although Giuliani has long been one of America's most polarising political figures, his health update on Sunday prompted bipartisan messages of concern.
For Trump's critics, however, the focus quickly shifted to the president's response, and what they say it reveals about a man who, even when reacting to a close friend's medical emergency, can rarely resist making it about himself.
