Rudy Giuliani says he was picturing Hillary Clinton in 'striped jumpsuit' while she was mocking him at Al Smith dinner

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The former New York City mayor has finally revealed why he did not laugh when Hillary Clinton was poking fun at him during the Alfred E Smith dinner.

Rudy Giuliani, who sat scowling with lopsided glasses, told a Philadelphia radio show that he was picturing the democratic nominee in prison.

On Tuesday Mr Giuliani was asked by 1210 WPHT Philadelphia radio host Dom Giordano what his reaction was to Ms Clinton’s jokes and whether he was going to "take out a pair of handcuffs and hold them up at that point".

"Well, I was US attorney and assistant to the US attorney for too many years to laugh at Mrs Clinton," Mr Giuliani replied.

"When I see her, I see her in an orange jumpsuit, I'm sorry, or at least a striped one. I'd have prosecuted her a year ago and probably convicted her by now."

"I think you would have," replied the host, laughing.

Many allies and supporters of Donald Trump advocate the imprisonment of Ms Clinton, claiming she should not be allowed to run for president and that she got off too lightly over the misuse of her personal email server when she was secretary of state.

"Lock her up" is one of the most common chants at Trump rallies.

Mr Trump also said at the second presidential debate that if he was elected he would instruct the attorney general to appoint a special prosecutor to "investigate" Ms Clinton.

Mr Giuliani has spent several months on the campaign trail for Mr Trump, attending rallies and making speeches in support of the Republican mogul.

He said Mr Trump was a "genius" for managing to avoid paying federal income tax over almost two decades by carrying a loss of $950 million forward.

Ms Clinton played on this theme at the dinner last week in New York, where the presidential candidates took to the stage to mock each other and their allies, just 24 hours after the final presidential debate.

"Many don’t know this, but Rudy actually got his start as a prosecutor going after wealthy New Yorkers who avoided paying taxes," she said.

"But as the saying goes, if you can’t beat ‘em, go on Fox News and call ‘em a genius."