Giuliani mocked for warning of dangers of misinformation after amplifying Trump’s ‘big lie’ on elections for months

Rudy Giuliani, the personal defence attorney of former president Donald Trump, was mocked on the social media on Wednesday after he spoke out in a podcast on the dangers of “misinformation” .

The former New York mayor, who became the face of Mr Trump’s doomed attempts to overturn the presidential election based on unsubstantiated claims of fraud, dedicated the latest episode of “Rudy Giuliani’s Common Sense” to focussing on “the dire consequences of misinformation on social media.”

Sharing the episode on Twitter, Mr Giuliani wrote: “Misinformation has become a daily occurrence on social media platforms. If continued unaddressed, it will eventually lead to Jefferson’s worst nightmare of a poorly informed citizenry, which he saw as the greatest danger to democracy.”

In the podcast, he lamented the lack of regulation and legal consequences for writing and sharing defamatory content online. He said: “One cannot sue social media. They can print the worst things about you. Congress has made them immune. So therefore, of course, there is going to be misinformation, and there is going to be fake information, and there is going to false information because nobody is checking.”

Mr Giuliani’s comments come just days after his YouTube channel was suspended for the second time this year for repeating the unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud – referred to repeatedly as the former president’s “big lie” during the House impeachment proceedings. The irony of the situation was not lost on social media users.

“‘Cancer is indeed a widespread problem-here’s my analysis,’ said the bloated tumor,” wrote one user commenting on the post.

“If only we could actually watch the pot meet the kettle. I miss irony so much!” wrote another.

“The king of misinformation currently being sued for billions over his abuse of misinformation wants you all to be aware of misinformation,” replied another user.

Mr Giuliani has been sued by Dominion Voting Systems, which is seeking damages worth $1.3bn accusing him of spreading lies to “purposefully mislead voters” about the sanctity of the election. He had filed around 50 lawsuits in several swing states as he led the legal effort by the Trump campaign to overturn the election result.

Bennie Thompson, a Democratic congressman, has also filed a civil lawsuit against Mr Giuliani and Mr Trump for conspiring to incite deadly riots at the US Capitol. During the “Save America” rally, Mr Giuliani told Trump supporters to prepare for “a trial by combat.”

“I’ll be darned if they’re going to take our free and fair vote,” he had said.

Mr Trump was impeached a second time by the House of Representatives over the 6 January riot, but found not guilty in a Senate trial.