Rudy Giuliani was speaking during a press conference on November 19 when he reenacted a scene from the beloved 1992 film My Cousin Vinny, which stars Joe Pesci as lawyer Vinny Gambini and Oscar-winner Marisa Tomei as Mona Lisa Vito.
Giuliani, speaking out as Donald Trump’s personal lawyer, continues to fight to prove that there was voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election despite not having any evidence. On Thursday, he used a famous scene from the fictional comedy movie to prove an unsubstantiated claim about how ballots were being counted.
“Did you all watch My Cousin Vinny? You know the movie? It’s one of my favorites law movies because he comes from Brooklyn,” he said, referring to Pesci’s role. “When the nice lady who said she saw – and then he says to her … ‘How many fingers do I got up?’ and she says ‘Uh, three.’ Well, she was too far away to see it was only two.”
“These people were farther away than my cousin Vinny was from the witness,” Giuliani says. “They couldn’t see a thing.”
The former New York mayor was speaking from the Republican National Committee headquarters in Washington, D.C., while delivering his remarks on Thursday. However, due to safety precautions, many reporters chose not to attend. Yahoo News White House correspondent Hunter Walker tweeted, “This event is being held indoors and unmasked. I personally opted not to cover it.”
Twitter Users Trolled Giuliani Following His ‘My Cousin Vinny’ Remarks
Joe Pesci confronting Rudy Giuliani after hearing him quote My Cousin Vinny
My Cousin Vinny, which was written by Dale Launer and directed by Jonathan Lynn, continues to be a cult classic nearly 30 years since it was first released, and numerous users online did not appreciate Giuliani comparing himself to Pesci’s character.
Comedian Sarah Cooper, famous for her Trump impersonation videos, tweeted, “Fun fact: Rudy Guiliani acquired most of his legal expertise from repeated viewings of My Cousin Vinny, his ‘favorite law movie.’”
Jeet Heer, The Nation’s national affairs correspondent, tweeted, “Giuliani: Your Honor, i’d like to cite the precedent of My Cousin Vinny versus the State of Alabama. Judge: Mr. Giuliani, that’s a movie.”
Rudy Giuliani just tried to use a scene from my cousin Vinny as evidence. If we are going to use movies as evidence, I recommend we start with the new Borat.
Rudy Giuliani is now quoting “My Cousin Vinny,” so allow me to retort:
Rudy’s been going for an hour, and his only accurate claim to this point is that My Cousin Vinny is a great film.
George Conway III, a conservative lawyer and co-founder of The Lincoln Project, was confused by the comparison. He tweeted, “um the old lady witness’s problem in My Cousin Vinny was that she needed new glasses.”
.@RudyGiuliani is actually quoting “My Cousin Vinny,” which he says is one of his favorite movies.
This is actually happening.
Rudy Giuliani just said My Cousin Vinny is “one of my favorite law movies.”
That’s it, that’s the tweet.
Numerous reporters couldn’t believe that Giuliani was citing a fictional film to prove a point about the election. Jedd Legum tweeted, “Most successful legal strategies involve your lawyer, sweating profusely, quoting scenes from My Cousin Vinny to the assembled media.”
Fox News Cut Off Giuliani’s November 4 Press Conference Claiming Voter Fraud
Just an amazing bit of TV here.
While Rudy Giuliani is rambling on about election fraud conspiracies during the Trump campaign’s presser, Neil Cavuto cuts in to announce that Fox News has called Michigan for Joe Biden, placing Biden on the cusp of 270.
This is not the first time Giuliani’s press conference has caught the media’s attention. While votes and mail-in ballots continued to be counted in numerous key swing states on November 4, Giuliani gave a press briefing in Philadelphia to call out the alleged election fraud happening in Pennsylvania.
However, during Giuliani’s speech, Fox News host Neil Cavuto cut off the former New York mayor to announce Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden as the projected winner in Michigan.
Giuliani was in the midst of discussing the possible ways voter fraud could be happening — “We have no idea if they’re signed, if they’re postmarked properly, if it isn’t just the same person who’s submitted 100,000 ballots, and they all get counted. This is the way they intend to win. Now, I’m informed by former Congressman Sweeney …” — before Cavuto cut back in to say, “… You might have noticed something happen to the electoral vote count for Joe Biden.”
“Our decision desk has taken a look at Michigan and concluded Joe Biden has won Michigan and gets the 16 electoral votes from Michigan. That puts him now six electoral votes from the presidency of the United States,” Cavuto said. After declaring Biden’s win in Michigan, Cavuto did not return to air the rest of Giuliani’s briefing.
For those taking the press conference live:
If you’re in the news business, it’s malpractice to carry Giuliani’s press conference live at length without any cut ins to note the myriad ways the public record contradicts him
Like Cavuto, The Nation’s correspondent Elie Mystal felt the need to cut off watching Giuliani’s press briefing on Thursday. Mystal tweeted, “I’m not following or tweeting about the My Cousin Vinny presser because his arguments are bad and have been/are being/will continue to be rejected. At this point he’s just a crazy man shouting at people who pass by his street corner. I’ve got better things to do.”
READ NEXT: WATCH: Biden Calls Trump’s Refusal to Concede ‘Embarrassing for the Country’