How Rudy Giuliani’s breathless report of a violent ‘attack’ quickly unravelled

Rudy Giuliani was attacked.

Or at least that's his story — a story that is quickly unravelling, even in the eyes of MAGA-world's most vocal supporters.

The former New York mayor and one-time lawyer to Donald Trump made a shocking claim over the weekend when he said he was assaulted in a pharmacy.

While campaigning for his son's gubernatorial bid in New York, Mr Guiliani stopped into a ShopRite in Staten Island to use the restroom. While he was there, a man walked out and slapped him on the back.

Mr Giuliani claimed that the slap "felt like a shot on my back." He said he was "lucky" that he, at 78-years-old, was in "pretty good shape" because he could have "hit the ground and probably crack my skull." He told WABC Radio that it felt like "somebody shot me."

The man who slapped Mr Giuliani was Daniel Gill, an employee at the ShopRite who allegedly said "What's up, scumbag?" after slapping Mr Giuliani on the back.

Mr Giuliani claimed Mr Gill harassed him over the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v Wade on Friday.

Mr Gill was charged with assault with intent to cause physical injury, but many are rushing to his defence after video of the encounter showed he merely patted Mr Giuliani on the back.

“The charges facing Daniel Gill, who has no previous contact with the criminal legal system, are inconsistent with existing law. Our client merely patted Mr. Giuliani, who sustained nothing remotely resembling physical injuries, without malice to simply get his attention, as the video footage clearly showed,” The Legal Aid Society, which is representing Mr Gill, said in a statement about the incident.

The organisation said Mr Gill was threatened by one of Mr Giuliani's associates who told him he would be "locked up."

“Given Mr. Giuliani’s obsession with seeing his name in the press and his demonstrated propensity to distort the truth, we are happy to correct the record on exactly what occurred over the weekend on Staten Island,” the statement said.

Even host Greg Kelly on Newsmax — an unapologetically pro-Trump media network — told Mr Giuliani: "I gotta be honest, it doesn't look that bad."

It's clear in the video that Mr Giuliani barely moves after Mr Gill walks by and pats him on the back. It does not look as though "somebody shot" him. Mr Giuliani was roundly mocked on social media after the video went viral.

Regardless, Mr Giuliani insists he was truly in danger, telling a crowd during a campaign event that "this guy could have killed me."