Rudy Giuliani says Obama's sanctions are 'petty little actions' that 'don't mean very much'

published 30 December 2016

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani thinks the real purpose of President Obama's recently announced sanctions on Russia is not to punish the country for its cyber activity, but to cause problems for President-elect Donald Trump. While on Fox & Friends on Friday morning, Giuliani called out Obama's "petty little actions" as a way to take "tremendous leverage" away from Trump, who has expressed interest in improving relations with Russia.

"Petty little actions like this don't mean very much," Giuliani said of Obama's sanctions against Russian individuals and entities thought to be involved in interfering in the U.S. presidential election on Trump's behalf. "It's almost a mockery to say this is too little too late," Giuliani added. "It should have been done 10 months ago, 11 months ago, 12 months ago. If it is really true, the response should be much stronger."

Giuliani advised Trump to get a second opinion when he takes office, rather than trust the intelligence coming from the Obama administration. "There's no question that the intelligence that President Obama has been getting has either been incompetent or politicized," Giuliani said. Once Trump figures out for himself who is to blame, Giuliani recommended the U.S. "bang them back really hard."