Rudy Giuliani is recovering from a fractured vertebra and other injuries following a car crash in the north-eastern US, a spokesperson for the former New York City mayor said.
Giuliani’s vehicle was struck from behind while travelling on a highway in New Hampshire on Saturday evening, according to a statement posted on X by Michael Ragusa, Giuliani’s head of security.
“He sustained injuries but is in good spirits and recovering tremendously,” Ragusa said, adding: “This was not a targeted attack.”
Giuliani, 81, was taken to a nearby trauma centre and was being treated for injuries including “a fractured thoracic vertebrae, multiple lacerations and contusions, as well as injuries to his left arm and lower leg,” according to Ragusa.
Prior to the accident, Giuliani had been “flagged down by a woman who was the victim of a domestic violence incident” and contacted police assistance on her behalf, Ragusa said.
After police arrived, Giuliani continued on his way and his vehicle was hit shortly after pulling onto the highway and was “entirely unrelated” to the domestic violence incident, Ragusa told The Associated Press in an emailed statement.
Giuliani was in a rental car and “no one knew it was him,” Ragusa also said in the post on X.
“Thank you to all the people that have reached out since learning the news about my Father,” Andrew Giuliani, Rudy Giuliani’s son, wrote in post on X. “Your prayers mean the world.”
The weekend crash follows some rocky years for the onetime Republican presidential candidate, who was dubbed “America’s mayor” in light of his leadership in New York after the September 11 attacks in 2001.
Giuliani later became US President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer for a time and a vocal proponent of Trump’s allegations of fraud in the 2020 election, won by Democrat Joe Biden. Trump and his backers lost dozens of lawsuits claiming fraud, and numerous recounts, reviews and audits of the election results turned up no signs of significant wrongdoing or error.
Two former Georgia elections workers later won a $US148 million ($226 million) defamation judgment against Giuliani. As they sought to collect the judgment, the former federal prosecutor was found in contempt of court and faced a trial this year over the ownership of some of his assets.
He ultimately struck a deal that let him keep his homes and various belongings, including prized World Series baseball rings, in exchange for unspecified compensation and a promise to stop speaking ill of the ex-election workers.
