Giuliani calls for 'trial by combat' at D.C. rally

(Image credit: Screenshot/Twitter)

published 6 January 2021

Rudy Giuliani is ready for a fight. A real, physical fight.

Yes, that's exactly what the former New York City mayor and top lawyer for President Trump suggested Wednesday at a rally in Washington, D.C. As some Republicans in Congress prepared to object to the Electoral College votes that proved President-elect Joe Biden's win, Giuliani suggested they duke out their election dispute another way: "trial by combat."

The 2020 presidential election has already been decided, and high-level officials on both sides of the aisle have found no evidence of fraud that could've affected the results. Still, Trump's closest allies have spent the past two months spreading baseless allegations of fraud, to the point that it may have jeopardized Republican turnout in Tuesday's Georgia Senate runoff and cost the GOP its hold on the body. A swath of those Trump supporters descended on D.C. Wednesday for a rally outside Congress, where Giuliani and other objectors repeated their lies to the crowd.

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Giuliani repeated false claims about voting machines in key states that Biden won, insisting he see the machines that turned out "fraudulent" ballots (they didn't). After all, Giuliani said he and Trump are both willing to "stake [our] reputation[s]" on finding fraud — "if we're wrong, we will be made fools of," he added. "So let's have trial by combat," Giuliani suggested.

Giuliani also seemed to hype himself up for that fight with his entrance music: "Macho Man," which Giuliani perhaps didn't know was already used to mock Trump on Saturday Night Live. Kathryn Krawczyk

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Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.