Andrew Giuliani, son of former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Republican candidate in the state’s race for governor, said CBS won’t let him attend the primary debate in person due to his COVID vaccination status.
Giuliani shared a letter he wrote to the WCBS general manager via his Twitter feed Sunday alleging he’d been disinvited from attending the debate over his decision not to receive the COVID vaccine.
Giuliani addressed the letter to Johnny Green, Jr., the WCBS general manager, calling out the network’s “arbitrary policy” and said that he’s “offered to go above and beyond” the network’s testing requirements in order to participate in the debate in person.
Below is my letter to CBS regarding their decision to exclude me from debating in person.
I will be hosting a press conference today at 11am in front of WCBS studios to discuss further. pic.twitter.com/hUICeHHqW0
— Andrew H. Giuliani (@AndrewHGiuliani) June 12, 2022
“While the aim of WCBS’s policy is to use a Covid vaccination as a metric for health and immunity, it is inconsistent with CDC data that shows the vaccine does not prevent infection or transmission,” Giuliani wrote in the letter. “Therefore your arbitrary policy does not satisfy public health and safety but instead serves to discriminate against a political candidate and their access to equal opportunity and religious liberty.”
“I have offered to go above and beyond your requirement of producing a photo containing the results of a home antigen test in favor of taking a higher-quality PCR in order to face my primary opponents,” he continued. “Since you are instead insisting that I put myself at a disadvantage and debate from a remote location, I am left wondering whether health and safety are your primary objectives here.” (RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: Unvaccinated California Students Say Vice Principal Corralled Them Behind Police Tape, School Threatened To Disenroll Them)
Giuliani also reacted to being disinvited from the debate via a press conference Sunday outside CBS Studios, reiterating that he’d agreed to take multiple tests on the day of the debate and that he has natural immunity to the COVID-19 virus.
In a statement published via The Associated Press, a CBS spokesperson said that anyone who visited its broadcast center must be vaccinated against COVID-19.
“Any candidate who doesn’t meet this requirement is encouraged to participate in Monday’s debate remotely,” the statement read. “We look forward to providing the opportunity Monday night for the Republican candidates to share their views on matters of importance to the residents of New York State.”
In light of his decision not to get vaccinated, Giuliani will debate remotely, the AP reported.
Giuliani said he wouldn’t let the vaccine mandate get in the way of participating in the debate and focusing on the important issues.
“I’m the only candidate who refused to comply with WCBS’s vaccine requirements,” Giuliani told the Daily Caller in an email. “That’s how I define being anti-mandate. But I’m not going to let a frivolous vaccine requirement get in the way of debating my opponents when we need to SAVE New York from skyrocketing crime and woke policies that are driving businesses and families out of our great state.”
The primary election for the governor’s race will take place on June 28.
A spokesperson for CBS provided the same statement published in the AP when the Daily Caller reached out for comment.