NEW YORK (AP) — Rudolph Giuliani, the ex-mayor of New York City and a former adviser to President Donald Trump, is in critical but stable condition at a hospital, his spokesman said Sunday.

Spokesman Ted Goodman didn’t say what sent the 81-year-old to the hospital or how long he’s been there.

“Mayor Giuliani is a fighter who has faced every challenge in his life with unwavering strength, and he’s fighting with that same level of strength as we speak,” Goodman said in a statement on social media. He said Giuliani “remains in critical but stable condition.”

Giuliani hosted his online show, “America’s Mayor Live,” Friday night from Palm Beach, Florida.

As he opened the show, he coughed and his voice sounded more raspy than usual. He remarked: “My voice is a little under the weather, so I won’t be able to speak as loudly as I usually do, but I’ll get closer to the microphone.”

Giuliani was dubbed “America’s mayor” in light of his leadership in New York after the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001.

He later became Trump’s personal attorney for a time and a vocal proponent of Trump’s allegations of fraud in the 2020 election, won by Democrat Joe Biden. Trump and his backers lost dozens of lawsuits claiming fraud, and numerous recounts, reviews and audits of the election results turned up no signs of significant wrongdoing or error.

“Our fabulous Rudy Giuliani, a True Warrior, and the Best Mayor in the History of New York City, BY FAR, has been hospitalized, and is in critical condition,” Trump wrote Sunday on his social media platform. “What a tragedy that he was treated so badly by the Radical Left Lunatics, Democrats ALL — AND HE WAS RIGHT ABOUT EVERYTHING! They cheated on the Elections, fabricated hundreds of stories, did anything possible to destroy our Nation, and now, look at Rudy. So sad!”

Two former Georgia elections 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 and faced a trial this winter over the ownership of some of his assets. He ultimately struck a deal 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.

Giuliani was hospitalized in September after suffering a fractured vertebra and other injuries in a car crash in New Hampshire.

Giuliani was elected New York’s mayor in 1993 after serving as one of the nation’s highest-profile prosecutors, taking on mobsters and crooked Wall Street traders.

He ran for the U.S. Senate in 2000 but abandoned his race against Hillary Rodham Clinton after being diagnosed with prostate cancer.

___

Weber reported from Los Angeles.

Michael R. Sisak And Christopher Weber, The Associated Press