Rudy Giuliani recalls 'spiritual experience' during coma, says he was headed to trial by St. Peter

Jessica Schladebeck, New York Daily News on May 14, 2026

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NEW YORK — Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani is opening up for the first time about the recent health crisis that sent him to a Florida hospital, including a “very significant spiritual experience” he said he had while he was in a coma.

The 81-year-old Giuliani on Wednesday returned to his online show, “America’s Mayor Live!” after being hospitalized and placed on a ventilator with a severe case of pneumonia, worsened by a respiratory illness that he says he contracted in wake of the 9/11 terror attacks.

During the broadcast, Giuliani recalled how his late friend and former aide, Peter J. Powers, appeared to him as he phased in and out of consciousness.

Powers, who met Giuliani in high school and eventually served as his deputy mayor, died in 2016 from lung cancer.

“I had a very, very significant spiritual experience at a time in which I was in a state of like out of it. I would equate it to a dream of my being on line headed for, I can’t say headed for heaven, headed for a trial by St. Peter,” Giuliani said.

“There was a very significant intervention by my Peter, I have my own Peter: Peter J. Powers, my friend of my lifetime,” he continued. “Peter said some very significant words, and I made sure, as soon as I woke up, I started telling people and recorded it in part.”

Giuliani promised to provide more details soon, adding that he didn’t want to “embellish” the moment, nor “deny that it was there.”

Giuliani was hospitalized in Florida on May 3, after he started experiencing breathing issues upon returning home from a trip to Paris. The former mayor slipped into a coma before making a steady recovery, described by his primary care provider, Dr. Maria Ryan, as “a miracle.”

Trump’s former attorney on Wednesday also returned to the show he hosts on LindellTV, the online network run by MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell. Giuliani said was “in the middle of making a very, very full and complete recovery.”

He added: “I feel 100 percent, but I’m probably not.”

Giuliani was mayor of New York City from 1994 to 2001, with the 9/11 attacks occurring just months before the end of his eight-year tenure. His subsequent leadership of the city made him a household name nationwide and earned him the nickname “America’s Mayor.”