In the last couple of days, CNN hosts Erin Burnett and Sara Sidner hyped former Republican Mayor Rudy Giuliani's daughter Caroline publicly endorsing Democrat Kamala Harris for President, giving the impression that she is a recent Republican party defector. Caroline claimed "it was definitely not a decision I came to lightly, figuring out how to articulate these feelings with the storm that I've been experiencing over the last couple of years."
On Wednesday evening, after a report on the Kamala Harris campaign by reporter Priscilla Alvarez, host Burnett segued to describe Caroline Rose Giuliani as "breaking from" her father over the election and writing a piece in Vanity Fair about it:
Priscilla's new reporting tonight comes as Giuliani endorses Kamala Harris -- Caroline Rose Giuliani, that is. She is the daughter of Rudy Giuliani who, of course, is former President Donald Trump's personal attorney, breaking publicly from her father now, endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris for President, calling Trump "destructive," "calamitous," and a "dark force" -- all quotes from Caroline Rose, blaming Trump for destroying her father's life.
Caroline's been "breaking publicly" from her dad since 2008. Four years ago, CNN similarly reported that Giuliani wrote a piece, also in Vanity Fair, highlighting her link to Rudy Giuliani as she called for Americans to vote for Joe Biden. She publicly supported Hillary Clinton in 2016 and, in 2008, she even joined a pro-Barack Obama group while her father was seeking the Republican nomination for president.
But Burnett gave no hint of her history of supporting Democrats:
She is a writer, a film maker, and obviously the daughter of the former New York City mayor, Rudy Giuliani. Caroline Rose, I know this is your first television interview since your endorsement, so I appreciate very much your taking the time. I can only imagine how hard it is for you to have made that decision -- to do it publicly. Can you share, you know, what you went through, Caroline Rose. What made you make this decision?
After complaining about Trump's resistance to conceding that he lost the 2020 election, Giuliani admitted to some of her liberal views:
I very much want to have children, and one day, I just thought about what I would say to my children in the future, and, in that moment, everything just became incredibly real. Like, I want to live in a country, if I have a girl, I want her to have autonomy over her body, and, if she becomes a boy, I want her to feel safe and respected in this country, and no matter the gender of my children, I want them to live on a planet that's habitable, and I would really also like them to live in democracy.
She added: "So it just -- the stakes all hit me at once, and I knew I had to use every resource at my disposal to get this message out there that we need to elect Kamala Harris if they want a future."
On Thursday morning, Sidner blurred Caroline Giuliani with Republicans who are supporting the Democrat ticket as she recalled that ex-Congresswoman Liz Cheney (R-WY) will be making a campaign appearance with Vice President Harris:
The surprising political team of Harris and Cheney -- later today, former top Republican Congresswoman Liz Cheney joins Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris for a campaign stop in the critical swing state of Wisconsin. Cheney just one in a long line of Republicans now endorsing Harris in this election because they say a second Trump presidency is a threat to democracy. The daughter of Trump's former personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, writing in a Vanity Fair op-ed that she is breaking from her father.
Again, no hint was given by the anchor that Giuliani already has a history of supporting Democrats, although the liberal guest did again admit to some of her views. A bit later, Giuliani claimed Trump is a threat to the "existence" of various minorities: "The type of toxic cruelty that he (Trump) spews and the way that he threatens the very existence of people -- of women, of people of color, of trans people, of people with disabilities, of anyone who basically doesn't look exactly like him."
Transcripts follow:
CNN's Erin Burnett OutFront
October 2, 2024
7:35 p.m. Eastern
ERIN BURNETT: Priscilla's new reporting tonight comes as Giuliani endorses Kamala Harris -- Caroline Rose Giuliani, that is. She is the daughter of Rudy Giuliani who, of course, is former President Donald Trump's personal attorney, breaking publicly from her father now, endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris for President, calling Trump "destructive," "calamitous," and a "dark force" -- all quotes from Caroline Rose, blaming Trump for destroying her father's life. She writes in Vanity Fair, and I quote from her: "I've been grieving the loss of my dad to Trump. I cannot bear to lose our country to him, too."
Caroline Rose Giuliani is "OutFront" now. She is a writer, a film maker, and obviously the daughter of the former New York City mayor, Rudy Giuliani. Caroline Rose, I know this is your first television interview since your endorsement, so I appreciate very much your taking the time. I can only imagine how hard it is for you to have made that decision -- to do it publicly. Can you share, you know, what you went through, Caroline Rose. What made you make this decision?
CAROLINE ROSE GIULIANI, DAUGHTER OF EX-REPUBLICAN MAYOR RUDY GIULIANI: Yeah, it was definitely not a decision I came to lightly, figuring out how to articulate these feelings with the storm that I've been experiencing over the last couple of years -- the emotional storm was really hard and also figuring out if I had the fortitude to share it. Knowing that it could definitely damage my relationship with my dad in the last years of his life, was really, really painful. But, at a certain point, earlier in this election, I think it all felt kind of surreal when Donald Trump became the candidate. It was like, "I can't believe this is really happening after everything that he's done to our country after being the first President to not participate in the peaceful transfer of power," like it didn't feel real.
And then, you know, I'm recently engaged, I'm thinking about having children, I very much want to have children, and one day, I just thought about what I would say to my children in the future, and, in that moment, everything just became incredibly real. Like, I want to live in a country, if I have a girl, I want her to have autonomy over her body, and, if she becomes a boy, I want her to feel safe and respected in this country, and no matter the gender of my children, I want them to live on a planet that's habitable, and I would really also like them to live in democracy. So it just -- the stakes all hit me at once, and I knew I had to use every resource at my disposal to get this message out there that we need to elect Kamala Harris if they want a future.
(...)
CNN News Central
October 3, 2024
9:42 a.m. Eastern
SARA SIDNER: The surprising political team of Harris and Cheney -- later today, former top Republican Congresswoman Liz Cheney joins Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris for a campaign stop in the critical swing state of Wisconsin. Cheney just one in a long line of Republicans now endorsing Harris in this election because they say a second Trump presidency is a threat to democracy. The daughter of Trump's former personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, writing in a Vanity Fair op-ed that she is breaking from her father. The piece is titled, "Trump Took My Dad from Me. Please Don't Let Him Take Our Country Too."
Caroline Rose Giuliani is joining us now. I want to start with your words beyond the headline in the Vanity Fair article. You write, "The last thing I want to do is hurt him especially when he's already down. Plus we never know how much time we have left with our parents. The totality of that makes this the most difficult piece I've ever written." So why did you write it?
CAROLINE ROSE GIULIANI, DAUGHTER OF FORMER MAYOR RUDY GIULIANI: Yeah, it was a really, really difficult decision. Figuring out how to say these things was incredibly hard, and figuring out if I could share it -- if I could handle more intensity right now was really hard. But I really want to have children, and when I thought about the future that I would be able to give them, I just knew that the stakes were far too high to not share this personal story and make sure that everyone who's voting understands these stakes, you know.
I want my children to have autonomy over their body. I want them to have rights if they are -- if they are gay or trans. I want them to live on a planet that's not suffocating them. And I would love for them to live in a democracy. And I now understand that that's a privilege, and it's a privilege that we need to fight for. And the way that we can do that is by voting for Kamala Harris because Donald Trump will not preserve our democracy. That is very, very clear.
(...)
Politics have always been divisive but not like this. This is different. The type of toxic cruelty that he (Trump) spews and the way that he threatens the very existence of people -- of women, of people of color, of trans people, of people with disabilities, of anyone who basically doesn't look exactly like him. It makes it very hard to have a relationship with someone who supports a man like that. I still believe that we should be trying to see the common humanity in one another even in this Trump era, but if Trump becomes the President, that's going to be really, really hard for a lot of people. And I think that the only way our nation has a chance at healing is if we put Kamala Harris in the White House. She is our only chance of healing this country.
