Former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani's attempt to bring up a terrorist's father's support for Hillary Clinton was quickly rebuffed by ABC anchor George Stephanopoulos on Wednesday.
After Giuliani began wondering what drew Seddique Mateen, whose son Omar killed 49 people at an Orlando nightclub in June, to be a fan of Clinton, Stephanooulos changed the subject to the dozens of national security experts who are in opposition to Donald Trump.
Giuliani came on Good Morning America to defend Trump from allegations that he'd suggested an assassination attempt on his Democratic opponent the previous day. Trump said off-handedly at a rally that "maybe" "Second Amendment people" could stop Clinton from filling the Supreme Court with bad justices.
"With a crowd like that, if that's what they thought he meant, they'd have gone wild," Giuliani said.
Stephanopoulos brought up a man seated behind Trump who looked surprised after the billionaire made his remark as proof that it wasn't just media spin. Giuliani jumped on his comment to bring up Mateen appearing at a Florida rally for Clinton on Monday and endorsing the Democrat for president.
"Which brings me to the guy behind Hillary Clinton, who's the father of a person who killed 49 people ... ends up being invited to sit in a prime position behind Hillary Clinton," Giuliani said. "You've got to ask yourself, number one, who invited him? We still don't know. And number two, what drew him to Hillary Clinton?"
Stephanopoulos, who worked in Bill Clinton's White House and is a Clinton Foundation donor, repeated the Clinton campaign's statement that it didn't invite Mateen and disavowed his support.
"Why is he such an avid supporter? What is drawing him to Hillary Clinton?" Giuliani asked. "Holding a big sign up on what a great president she's going to be."
Mateen is a Taliban sympathizer with strong anti-homosexual views. After he was spotted by a local TV station at the rally, he showed a reporter a sign he made laying out why he likes Clinton over Trump, including her support for gun control laws.
"What brings him to Hillary Clinton? I believe it's her soft stance on Islamic extremist terrorism, which she and the president have had since the president entered office," Giuliani said.
"He shows up at her rally. She disavows that support," Stephanopoulos said. "Meantime, you've got these 50 national security officials from Republican administrations who say they cannot support Donald Trump because he lacks self-control."
When Giuliani later brought up Clinton's email scandal and the connections between the Clinton Foundation and the State Department, Stephanopoulos ignored it and went back to asking about Trump.