Metro

GOP mayoral forum moderator calls Rudy Giuliani a ‘jerk’

The moderator of the first Republican mayoral forum startled the audience today by referring to former Mayor Rudy Giuliani as a “jerk.”

The comment by Crain’s New York Business columnist Greg David was addressed to Joe Lhota, who served as a deputy mayor under Giuliani and is the frontrunner for the GOP nomination.

In the last question of the hour-long discussion, David asked the five candidates to explain how they ended up embracing the Republican Party when some were Democrats just months ago.

Out of the blue, he added: “I spent the weekend reading about 2001 and I was trying to figure out what word to apply to Rudy Giuliani that year, but jerk comes to mind.”

Gasps and laughs could be heard in the audience of more than 300 gathered at the Roosevelt Hotel.

“Wow!,” responded Adolfo Carrion, the first candidate to speak after David.

Lhota, who has taken pains not to be cast as the second coming of Giuliani, reacted calmly when his turn came.

“For you to disparage the 107th mayor of the City of New York with the word that you used — when you look at what he did in those eight years in office, you saw the economy expanding, you saw jobs expanding,” Lhota said, drawing applause.

“I imagine even the number of Crain’s subscriptions increased during that period.”

David told The Post later that his remark was “inappropriate,” because it offended the audience and because it allowed Lhota to “knock it out of the park.”

“It’s a serious issue,” reflected David. “Is he Rudy Giuliani incarnate or not? Obviously, it was not done right.”