ALBANY – With the first Republican debate in the governor’s race scheduled for Monday night on WCBS-TV, the list of direct candidates has narrowed to one, as Andrew Giuliani – himself unvaccinated moat against the coronavirus – announced on Sunday that he would not be allowed to attend.
Mr. Giuliani, son of former New York City mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, said Sunday that he was told late last week that the station would not allow him into the studio unless he submitted evidence. about his immunization status – which he said he would not do and the proposal could be unconstitutional.
Mr. Giuliani, 36 years old, said in a impromptu press conference on Sunday outside CBS headquarters in Manhattan, said he had “reviewed the data” on the vaccination and decided against it.
Since Sunday, According to the New York Times database91 percent of New Yorkers of all ages have received at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine, and 78 percent of residents are fully immunized.
Mr. Giuliani before his press conference by released a letter he sent to WCBS, CBS network’s flagship affiliate, calling its policies “authoritarian” and “aimed at discriminating against a political candidate and their access to equal opportunity and religious freedom .”
In a statement, WCBS said that its broadcast center requires visitors to be vaccinated against the coronavirus and that the policy – dating back to last year – was put in place “in consultation with healthcare professionals”. health, government officials and many unions represent our employees. ”
“Any candidate who does not meet this requirement is encouraged to participate remotely in Monday’s debate,” the station said, adding that it hoped the debate would “allow Party candidates to Republicans share their views on issues important to the residents of New York State. ”
The debate is expected to involve other Republican candidates for governor, including Representative Lee M. Zeldin, the party’s anointed candidate; Rob Astorino, former Westchester County executive; and Harry Wilson, a business turnaround expert.
At Sunday’s press conference, Mr Giuliani said he has “natural immunity” to Covid-19, which has killed more one million Americansand that he had offered to take multiple tests to prove he wasn’t infected, but he was removed from the argument anyway.
Instead, Mr. Giuliani said he would in fact join the virtual, a prospect that was almost immediately criticized by Mr. Zeldin, who tweeted that “The remote option is not smarter” while adding “his reason for being virtual is ridiculous.”
Mr. Astorino repeated this, saying that “all four candidates should be on stage,” and that the “discriminatory and unscientific vaccine mandate” would not prevent disease transmission. (Proven Vaccines To prevent the most serious cases of disease.)
Mr. Giuliani, the first person to run for public office and was often campaigning with his fatherhas argued that candidates should argue almost every day before the June 28 primary election, while also resisting mandates for emergency medical workers and others, which he has argued for. repeat on Sunday.
“I am clearly seeing the consequences that I believe it was my wise decision to do this,” he said, adding that if elected he would “throw all of these duties in the bin.” trash of history”.
