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Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani returned to his regularly scheduled show on Wednesday evening for the first time after being hospitalized for viral pneumonia<\/a> earlier this month.<\/p>\n The 81-year-old opened his conservative talk show, \u201cThe Rudy Giuliani Show,\u201d with assurances to his audience that he was on the mend \u2014 though not yet fully recovered. In early May, Giuliani was in critical condition and placed on a ventilator at a hospital in Palm Beach, Florida. <\/p>\n Reports of his illness were met with an outpouring of support and well-wishes from a range of high profile politicians across the political spectrum.<\/p>\n \u201cI have to thank everyone who sent me prayers and good will,” he said. He specifically mentioned his gratitude to his family, the medical staff that tended to him and U.S. President Donald Trump, who Giuliani said called him after he became sick. <\/p>\n \u201cIt feels good to be back,\u201d Giuliani said before cutting to his first break. <\/p>\n Giuliani<\/a> was previously hospitalized last September after suffering a fractured vertebra and other injuries in a car crash in New Hampshire.<\/a><\/p>\n After Giuliani’s eight-year tenure as mayor, which was punctuated by the 9\/11 attacks on the World Trade Center in 2001, the longtime Republican politician ran unsuccessfully for president in 2008 and eventually became a personal attorney and adviser to Trump. <\/p>\n Giuliani was a vocal proponent of the president\u2019s allegations of fraud in the 2020 election, which was won by Democrat Joe Biden. Trump and his backers lost dozens of lawsuits<\/a> claiming fraud, and numerous recounts<\/a>, reviews<\/a> and audits<\/a> of the election results turned up no signs of significant wrongdoing or error.<\/p>\n Two former Georgia election workers later won a $148 million defamation judgment against Giuliani. As they sought to collect the judgment, the former federal prosecutor was found in contempt of court<\/a> and faced a trial<\/a> this winter over the ownership of some of his assets.<\/p>\n Giuliani ultimately struck a deal<\/a> that let him keep his homes and various belongings, including prized World Series rings, in exchange for unspecified compensation and a promise to stop speaking ill of the ex-election workers.<\/p>\n Last year, Trump said he was awarding Giuliani the Presidential Medal of Freedom<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n