Former New York City mayor and Donald Trump associate Rudy Giuliani had launched a new brand of coffee, while he struggles to pay off millions of dollars of legal debt.
Giuliani, 79, is selling three types of coffee - bold, decaf and morning - all bearing the brand name "Rudy." The bags retail at $29.99 and bear images of Giuliani superimposed over an American flag, the Statue of Liberty and a tropical beach.
"I've moved at a fast pace, and have had many different roles in life, but the one constant thing has been a good cup of coffee, which is now proven to have health benefits," Giuliani said, in the website's marketing copy. "Please enjoy my delicious fresh roasted specialty coffee. It's quality you can trust."
Giuliani filed for bankruptcy in early January after being ordered to pay $148 million in damages to Georgia election workers Ruby Freeman and Wandrea "Shaye" Moss. The former New York mayor defamed the pair by spreading conspiracy theories based on the false claim that the 2020 election was stolen. He also owes over a million dollars to his former attorney and hundreds of thousands to the IRS in back taxes.
Assuming the business has no overhead costs, Giuliani would need to sell 4,934,978.33 bags of coffee to pay Freeman and Moss, according to an analysis done by the New Republic.
"It may be that Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss are able to chase Rudy Giuliani to his grave to catch every penny they can out of his pockets," former U.S. Attorney Barb McQuade said on MSNBC, in late December.
