A senior advisor to Rudy Giuliani pushed back hard Thursday morning against a Weekly Standard report that the former New York Mayor has decided to run for president.
Jake Menges said "nothing has changed" since he told National Journal weeks ago that Giuliani was considering another run for president, but would make no decisions until it becomes clear who else was in the field.
"He's not going to make a decision until the field is settled and the field is a month away from being settled," Menges said. "It's just premature to talk about Giuliani getting in imminently."
Giuliani is also seeking advice on how to handle a campaign now differently from his unsuccessful 2008 run. "He’s getting a lot of feedback on what he did wrong last time," Menges said.
Weekly Standard columnist William Kristol reported Wednesday afternoon that Giuliani had decided to make a second run at the presidency. Menges said unequivocally that Giuliani had made no decisions and wanted to see if another candidate emerged who he believed would be a better GOP standard-bearer against President Obama. While Kristol said Giuliani would make a public announcement "soon," Menges said his boss’s decision was unlikely to come before August.
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