Jacquelyn Martin/AP
- Rudy Giuliani denied being drunk in rambling 9/11 speech where he did an impression of the Queen.
- Giuliani told the Daily Mail he only drank one whisky beforehand.
- Giuliani previously denied being an alcoholic after Trump reportedly said he drank too much.
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Donald Trump's former personal attorney Rudy Giuliani denied being drunk during a rambling speech marking the anniversary of 9/11.
Video of the address went went viral, showing him doing an impression of Queen Elizabeth II, and prompting some commentators to speculate that he had been drinking.
He told DailyMail.com that he had a single measure of scotch whisky at the Cipriani restaurant in Manhattan before giving the speech on Friday, the day before the 20th anniversary of the terror attacks.
He said efforts to portray him as drunk are a political smear.
"Yes I had a scotch. But I was not drunk. There is a deliberate attempt [by] the left-wing to paint me that way," he told the Mail.
He insisted that the last time he was drunk was in college, and that now he drinks only "moderate amounts of scotch."
There was widespread speculation on social media last week about whether he had been drunk during the speech after he adopted an English accent and recited an anecdote about the Queen making him an "honorary knight" after the attacks.
He also denied being associated with Prince Andrew and underage girls during the speech - a reference to the ongoing court case in which one of Jeffrey Epstein's accusers is suing Andrew.
He also attacked President Biden's withdrawal from Afghanistan after saying "I shouldn't get into this."
Giuliani told the Mail that his impression of the Queen was not meant to be mocking. That is "an interpretation that's totally unfair. I use an English accent," he said.
"And I have never mocked it. I just like to use an English - I imitate Churchill sometimes."
Giuliani in August denied being an alcoholic after Trump White House staffers described him as one.
In an interview with NBC New York, he said he had "never" had a drinking problem.
"I don't think I've ever done an interview drunk. I mean, I drink normally. I like scotch, I drink scotch," he said.
"I'm not an alcoholic. I'm a functioning - I probably function more effectively than 90 percent of the population."
The author Michael Wolff had reported in his book about the Trump White House that Donald Trump had said Giuliani drank too much.
