With the NY GOP Gubernatorial primary a little over a month away, Andrew Giuliani sat down with NY Weekly to discuss vaccine mandates, parental choice, and civil rights in this wide-ranging interview. Less than two minutes into the call, Andrew Giuliani pledged to do something that no candidate in the race has done before; Giuliani affirmed his support for state workers who were coerced into taking the vaccine and lost their jobs. “Immediately, a day one priority on January 1st, 2023, we would eliminate these mandates. These unconstitutional mandates.” Mr. Giuliani took an even stronger stance on the topic and said, “To me, immediately, any worker, anybody who lost their job due to the mandate on day one I would make sure we rehire them back and we would work to make sure they get back pay. On top of that, anyone who was coerced into getting the vaccine, any state worker who was coerced into getting the vaccine and has an injury, I think it is the state’s obligation to be liable to be perfectly honest.”
In doing so, Andrew Giuliani became the first candidate to pledge support for teachers impacted by far-reaching vaccine mandates. The vaccine mandate issue and coercion is at the heart of Kane v. De Blasio. Giuliani’s support for those coerced into taking the vaccine, rehiring workers with back pay, and support for teachers could have implications beyond pending litigation and could go a long way to winning the GOP primary. According to a recent Hill/Emmerson poll, the GOP primary is a virtual statistical tie and there are over 19% of voters still undecided. It is unclear how many of those voters feel strongly about vaccine mandates, however the topic is widely debated amongst teachers and public-sector employees. Further, this issue may go on to be a differentiator in the general election, as the same poll has a generic Democrat and generic Republican tied at 33% with 18% of the electorate still undecided.
Giuliani went further on his anti-mandate stance. He went on to call the mandates “unconstitutional” and pledged to eliminate vaccine and mask mandates “on day one.” Giuliani made it clear that he supports individual choice and said, “If someone wants to wear seven masks for the rest of their life, as Governor, that’s not my place to tell them they can’t. They should be able to do that.” At the same time, he voiced support for ending mask mandates in schools. “We don’t know what the long-term effects of this are on our kids. I think about our kids with school board elections coming up in a couple of days, not just potentially on their lungs but on their learning. If you think about it, 90% of our communication is non-verbal. We’ve had Democrats get up on the House of Representatives floor in Congress take off their masks and say, ‘I can’t communicate in this’ and we want to make our kids have to continue to wear this? On day one, if it’s still in place, it will be eliminated on day one of my administration.”
Giuliani went on to voice support for religious freedom and civil rights. When asked about how he would approach restrictive guidance on religious accommodations from institutions such as the Department of Health, Giuliani went on to say, “That is obviously something we would challenge in court.” He added, “One of the main importances of electing the next governor is the opportunity to appoint judges on the NY court.” He also displayed a deep understanding of settled law via the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (as amended), specifically Title VII and Section 707. Mr. Giuliani stated, “I will stand up for those true heroes – the ones that we bang pots for, our nurses, sanitation workers, teachers, as governor I would do whatever I could do whether it is to put pressure on the Attorney General [Garland], whether it is to work with the administration, which I certainly hope to do, or whether it is to take action unilaterally to take action as the Chief Executive of the state to make sure that those heroes get their jobs back with back pay. Just because they don’t wear a uniform on the ball field, doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be standing up for them.” Standing up for teachers, first responders, nurses, and alike was a common theme from Giuliani throughout the conversation.
Andrew Giuliani seemed optimistic as he closed out the interview. He pointed out that, “every single independent poll has us either winning this race or within the margin of error. I’m very excited for the opportunity to represent the Republican party as the nominee, come June 28th, which I’m confident we will be. Then we will beat Kathy Hocul or whichever Democrat nominee they put in front of me on November 8th.” And why not? With a virtual statistical tie, and 19% of the electorate undecided, there is a long fight ahead for the GOP nomination. This battle may well come down to who can win the votes of those who value religious liberty, health autonomy, and eliminating vaccine mandates. Andrew Giuliani certainly pledged the strongest support for those voting blocks and remains the only candidate on record who will hold the state liable for those coerced into taking the COVID vaccines at the risk of losing their jobs.
