Rudy Giuliani appeared on Sean Hannityβs Fox News show Thursday night and praised President-elect Donald Trump for his relationship with the press.
βIt is refreshing and it is very good for our democracy that we have a president that is trying to get us back to a free press,β Giuliani said while discussing the president-electβs handling of the media during his first news conference in 167 days.
Trumpβs unorthodox relationship with the media is widely seen as a threat to journalism ethics and a free press.
During the Wednesday press briefing, Trump refused to take a question from CNNβs Jim Acosta and called the cable news network βfake news.β CNN had published a report Tuesday that said intelligence officials presented Trump and President Barack Obama with claims that Russian operatives had compromising information about the president-elect. Trump also called BuzzFeed a βfailing pile of garbageβ for publishing the 35-page document of unverified claims.
Giuliani has been one of Trumpβs top surrogates throughout the president-electβs campaign and transition into office. Speculation had the former New York City mayor on a shortlist for Trumpβs top Cabinet positions, but he says he turned down two offers for top posts because he βdidnβt want to do it.β
On Thursday, Trump announced that Giuliani would advise the president-electβs incoming administration on cybersecurity issues, a role the New York Times said represented a βdiminished place in Trump world.β