Giuliani Claims He Faced Same Health Risks As Ground Zero Workers

Rudy Giuliani made a speech at Ground Zero after 9/11 that one time, so naturally that puts him on par with the workers who sifted through the debris for over a year:

Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani said Thursday he had exposed himself to the same health risks as workers at ground zero after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and spent as much time at the site as those involved in the recovery.

The former New York mayor has faced criticism from relatives of some of the firefighters killed at the World Trade Center, who have contended that Giuliani was woefully unprepared for 9/11.

"This is not a mayor or a governor or a president who's sitting in an ivory tower," he said. "I was at ground zero as often, if not more, than most of the workers. ... I was there working with them. I was exposed to exactly the same things they were exposed to. So in that sense, I'm one of them."

Battalion Chief John McDonnell, head of the Uniformed Fire Officers Association in New York, said: "I have a real problem with that statement. I think he's really grasping and trying to justify his previous attempts to portray himself as the hero of 9/11."

Michael Palladino, head of the Detectives Endowment Association, the union of NYPD detectives, said the mayor's record can't compare to those who spent 12 months sifting through toxic debris for evidence and human remains.

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