Rudy Giuliani referred to Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis as a ‘whore’ during his remarks at a megachurch.
Last week’s comments sparked widespread backlash from Democrats who denounced the former lawyer and longtime ally of Donald Trump as being “misogynistic” against Willis, who is prosecuting the former president for election interference.
Giuliani is among 18 co-defendants in the Willis v. Trump case.
But Willis has emerged at the center of controversy amid the lawsuit after it was revealed that she had a romantic relationship with the special prosecutor she hired for the case, Nathan Wade.
While speaking at the far-right ReAwaken America Tour at Grace Christian Church in Sterling Heights, Michigan, on Friday, Giuliani fiercely attacked the pronunciation of Willis’ name and called it a sexual slur.
Rudy Giuliani called Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis a ‘zo’ during remarks at a megachurch in Michigan on Friday and intentionally mispronounced her name.
“I have two prosecutors: Fani The Ho,” Giuliani said in a video of the comments posted by reporter Stephanie Mencimer of the far-left outlet Mother Jones.
After several seconds of laughter and applause from the supposedly evangelical audience, the former New York City mayor followed up with, “I’m sorry.” Fani Willis.’
‘Fani Willis’ repeated, emphasizing the pronunciation of her name with a long ‘a’.
‘Now, FANI is now Fani. And I won’t call her Fani,” she said, with the phonetic pronunciation of the district attorney’s name, “FAWN-E.”
‘I could drop the ‘ho’ part if she would just quit and leave. But to me, if you spell your name FANI, your ‘FAN-E,’ you’re not ‘FAWN-E,’ she said.
The audience seemed delighted by Giuliani’s attacks on Willis in the video posted on X on Saturday.
Former congresswoman Donna Edwards said on MSNBC that Giuliani’s comments are part of “the constant dehumanization of black women and I think black women see that, I think all women see that for what it is.”
“It’s really disgusting,” he added.
“So Rudy Giuliani called Fani Willis a ‘whore’ on a right-wing Christian spree,” Mother Jones DC bureau chief David Corn wrote on X, reposting the video. “He seemed quite pleased with himself about this couple of racism and misogyny.”
One account posting lines of attack against Republicans wrote: “Turns out Giuliani is racist and evangelical Christians aren’t very Christian at all.”
The ReAwaken America Tour is a conference that travels across the United States and features conservative speakers who support Trump.
Willis emerged at the center of controversy in the middle of the lawsuit after it was learned that she had a romantic relationship with the special prosecutor she hired for the case.
Nathan Wade testified during the hearing to determine whether Willis should be removed from the case because of their relationship. Trump’s Fulton County election interference case put on hold
In Fulton County, which encompasses Atlanta, Georgia, Trump is accused of interfering in the 2020 election and faces felony prosecution.
But last week, a Georgia appeals court stayed the trial on Trump’s four criminal charges to allow for a challenge related to Willis’s affair with Wade.
Oral arguments were expected to take place in October in the Georgia case, but have likely already been postponed until after November due to the suspension of the case, meaning the trial and ruling will not occur until after 2024 elections.
Meanwhile, Trump was already found guilty of 34 criminal charges in Manhattan when the jury returned last month with the ruling in the Stormy Daniels hush money case.