Who is Rudy Giuliani?

Rudy W. Giuliani is an American lawyer and politician who previously served as mayor of New York City.

Born ‘Rudolph’ in Brooklyn, New York, in 1944, his parents descended from Italian immigrants. During his younger years, Rudy had planned on becoming a priest before choosing a career in law.

He began working for the US government in 1975 as a prosecutor. Following Ronald Reagan’s 1980 election, he joined the Republican Party. In 1993, he was elected mayor of New York City - promising to ‘clean-up’ the city of ‘crime and corruption’.

Continuing in his role having been re-elected in 1997, Giuliani was mayor of the city when the attacks of 11 September 2001 took place.

A supporter of Donald Trump, Rudy was his advisor at the White House as well as the former president’s personal lawyer. However in 2021, his reputation was damaged and his license to practise law was suspended by the New York and Washington courts.

Rudy Giuliani has been married and divorced three times.

In April 2022, the ex-mayor was unmasked as a contestant on US TV show The Masked Singer.

To find out more about Donald Trump's former personal lawyer - watch Yahoo UK’s explainer video.