But now a group of the city's firefighters seeking to scotch his presidential campaign, have posted an online vid calling Rudy an "Urban Legend". The video combines footage of the attacks with interviews of union members and victims' families, and says that the former mayor didn't do enough in the wake of the attacks, and has been using that day for for financial and political gain. It also charges that Giuliani is somewhat culpable for deaths in the attacks because his administration didn't provide the Fire Department with proper equipment.

The New York Times says that while some of the video's content is debatable, its emotional appeal will have some resonance.

“Whenever I hear him talk, I want to scream out to the world and say, ‘God, he is so full of it,’ ” says Rosaleen Tallon, the sister of one fallen firefighter, Sean Patrick Tallon.

The Giuliani campaign responded forcefully Tuesday even before the video was released, turning to two loyalists with long ties to the New York City Fire Department to rebut the accusations.

One was Richard Shierer, a former firefighter who was commissioner of the city’s Office of Emergency Management on Sept. 11. The other was Lee Ielpi, himself a retired firefighter whose son died that day and who is now supporting Mr. Giuliani’s candidacy. Mr. Ielpi called the union’s claims “nonsense” and the video “disgraceful.”