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- [00:01]
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- [00:43]
Candy Valentino
What were you doing there? What actually happened from your perspective?
- [00:48]
Richie McGinnis
We had five reporters on the ground on January 6, and I was at home where I knew I would have Internet and I was streaming Trump's speech and I heard that cops were running around down there with a bulletproof helmet, bulletproof backpack, bulletproof vest, and a gas mask. You're right, skateboard as well. So I could get. Get there in time. And the first thought I had when I arrived on the Western Front at 2pm right as clashes were starting, the major clashes between the police trying to hold that line in front of the inauguration tower there, my first thought was like, why am I better prepared than most of these police officers?
- [01:25]
Candy Valentino
Hey, guys, welcome back to another episode of the Candy Valentino Show. I am so excited for this conversation. Personally, I can't tell you. Um, obviously we have had a recording schedule for quite some time, but when we first heard about Richie McGinnis, we had scheduled him on the show. We were going to talk about a few different things, the way that the landscape was changing in the country. And then all of a sudden, as you guys know, just a few days ago, we had the inauguration of our current president, President Trump. And we also know if you've been following all of the world news and been listening to it, you know that he just did a pardon on all J6ers. Um, and so basically, a lot of people that have been held for one reason or another were just released. And that shifted the conversation that I'm going to have with our guest today. Richie McGinnis is currently in D.C. he's on Capitol Hill. He was at the January 6th Capitol riot. He obviously got closer than any of us probably listening, got closer, definitely virtually than any other journalist. And he has a very interesting take on it. Too close for his. For his liking, I'm sure. But I wanted to chat a little bit about this because I think so many of us have misconceptions or maybe correct about what it all was. And so, Richie, thank you so much for joining us here and being on the show.
- [02:44]
Richie McGinnis
Thanks for having me. I appreciate it.
- [02:45]
Candy Valentino
And I love your position because, you know, I think a lot of people that talk about January 6th, they have one maybe hard position that they take politically. And I loved how you were very open about saying that you knocked on doors. You were at Biden's inauguration. You try to just report very, very neutrally. And so if you can take U.S. back to January 6, 2021, what were you doing there? And maybe just give us a little bit of a recount of what actually happened from your perspective, for sure.
- [03:19]
Richie McGinnis
Well, I was actually running a video team at the time for Daily Caller, which was founded by Tucker Carlson in 2010, although I arrived in D.C. in 2008. And like we talked about before air, I was knocking on doors for Obama, this idealistic kid. And then I worked for msnbc, NBC, and Mark Levin, who's a conservative radio guy, as a video editor. And then I ran the video at Daily Caller. So I was working at this anti establishment news outlet based in D.C. and when all of the protests and riots erupted after Memorial Day weekend, that's really where the story began, with all of the BLM stuff, protests, a lot of them turned riots. And so by the time January six rolled around, my team and I, we had covered countless protests across the country from dc, Seattle, Portland, New York, Philadelphia. I'd been to the border, and so it was the first question that I had. We had five reporters on the ground on January 6, and I was at home where I knew I would have Internet. And I was streaming Trump's speech and I heard that cops were running around. And I expected that violence was going to start around sundown when it usually does, you know, stop the steel. One and two were in D.C. and we saw violence when counter protesters encountered the Trump supporters throughout the city. So I was at home ready to leave around three or four. But I just got my stuff, went down there with a bulletproof helmet, bulletproof backpack, bulletproof vest, and a gas mask. You were right, skateboard as well, so I could get get there in time. And the first thought I had when I arrived on the Western Front at 2pm right as clashes were starting, the major clashes between the police trying to hold that line in front of the inauguration tower there, my first thought was like, why am I better prepared than most of these police officers? Because I had my gas mask and most of them did not. So there were guys on the MAGA side who had pepper spray and the cops were rendered inoperable because they got pepper sprayed in the eyes. And I was just standing there with my gas mask, like, thinking, wow, I feel bad for that guy. But, you know, I just got to keep doing my job. So I had the camera rolling on the western front. I climbed up in the inauguration tower and filmed the breaking of the police line, and I watched everybody streaming in. And the same with the BLM protests. I'm not going to trust the police or the protesters slash rioters to tell me what happened. That's my job, is to get up in there and. And show people what's really going on without that bias of being, you know, wanting to show your side only doing the right thing and not the wrong thing. So I followed them in, and I was in the rotunda, actually ended up on the other side of the house doors when officers, sergeant at arms, had their guns drawn. There's that famous photo of the guy who has his face stuck into the broken glass of the house doors. As votes were, the votes were no longer being counted, but there were still congressmen in there. At the time. I was on the other side of the doors, and so I was right behind that guy who had his face in there. And at the time I was there, there were like 20 protesters, rioters up against the doors, trying to yank them open, and only two cops until they got reinforcements and pushed us out. So I ended up in the rotunda, where then I encountered, 10 minutes later, a guy who decided to. Not to open the doors or to stop the count, but to roll a joint. So that entire experience right there just encapsulates, I think, the same thing that happened with the BLM protest, which is one side of the media is only keen to show the peaceful protest, and then one side of the media is only keen to show when things get violent late at night. So these. These dueling narratives also came out of January 6, where it was either, you know, a walk, the police let open the doors for them and gave them a walk in the park, or they were insurrectionists, terrorists. You know, so those two extremes, I saw people who were trying to crank open the doors and stop the votes, and they were violent with police, but the large majority of people were nonviolent. And so that's. That was exactly the same at BLM. It was about, you know, 10, 5% of the population that's really bumping into the police shields and, you know, punching, punching people getting violent, trying to force their way into government buildings and the rest of the people. And this is what I always say to people who haven't experienced this firsthand is like when you get pepper spray in your eyes, when you see your, your fellow tribesmen in polit, you know, political tribesmen get Billy clubbed down to the ground by the, by the cops. When the tear gas comes out, a whole different part of your brain turns on. So that primal aspect, the rational decision making making kind of goes out the window. Not to mention a lot of these people were not from D.C. so they didn't know the significance of the Capitol building as a restricted area where I had press credentials, so I was allowed to be in there. But, you know, a lot of them just were looking around saying, oh, oh man, look at this. You know, like with, with awe. They had followed in the entire group and the doors were open by the time they got there. But some people fought to get those doors open in the first place. So, yeah, the answer to that is both things can be true at the same time.
- [08:23]
Candy Valentino
Yeah. Isn't that true? It's like normally the truth always lies in the end. It's like both things can be true and it's, it. The fact that you said it's just such a small minority of the people were actually trying to incite the largest majority of the violence and of the issue. Were you surprised when we heard, you know, within that those first 45 executive orders. I was up watching. I don't know if you were a minute by, by minute trying to. Exactly what's going on. Yeah. And when I was at the jail.
- [08:52]
Richie McGinnis
Actually I was at the D.C. jail yesterday or.
- [08:55]
Candy Valentino
Oh, yesterday.
- [08:55]
Richie McGinnis
Two days ago. Two days ago. Right. When it was 24 hours after the announcement, you know, because he did it on that, that first night. First night, pardon them. And so I was there the next day and some of them were released, most of them out the back. So there was no fanfare. But I was at the jail interviewing folks.
- [09:13]
Candy Valentino
Was that, was it a surprise? Were you already, were you, was everyone.
- [09:17]
Richie McGinnis
I wasn't surprised only because he's, he's promised it. And then what really solidified it for me was just the amount of pardons that Biden issued and the people that he pardoned. And so I think this blanket pardon was a just as much a political act of undoing the Biden era executive orders and pardons as much as it was, you know, something that he's campaigned on Trump, which is, as he puts it, freeing the J6 hostages. So I, I wasn't surprised. I mean, it was the first night, so it was pretty quick. And there are some of the, those Non, non violent people that I've stayed in touch with just to hear how their court processes are going. And then I paid attention to, you know, Enrique Tario and Stuart Rhodes, who were also pardoned. They had like 20 year sentences. And it, you know, there was, there was relief across the board, although from the people who had already served the time for like a misdemeanor. Like the guy with the, the sis. The, the lectern, they call him lectern guy. You know that famous photo.
- [10:24]
Candy Valentino
Oh, yeah, yeah, that photo.
- [10:25]
Richie McGinnis
So he carried that lectern 39ft. He didn't actually take it out of the Capitol. He moved it 39ft. So he was. Ended up being convicted of a misdemeanor for criminal trespassing. But he spent 70 days in federal prison. And, and by this point he's already gone through all that. And he was like, told me that the pardon for him was almost like what he wanted was for it to be overturned. But a pardon is really just saying, well, you're free now. But the court of law still states that he was guilty of. He really wandered in at the end of the crowd, like I said. So there's that guy. And then you have Enrique Tario or Stuart Rhodes. Stuart Rhodes specifically, who's like a bad dude. He's the guy with the eye patch. He looks like a villain in a movie, but that's not a crime. But what was a crime was his planning of the violence. And him with the Oath Keepers being right in that tip of the spear that we're talking about that's first agitating police and first creating that environment in which all the tear gas and the pepper spray comes out. He was sentenced to 20 something years. And so it's, there's a, there's the nuance there, but it was a blanket pardon. So all those people from violent to nonviolent were all pardoned.
- [11:39]
Candy Valentino
Yeah, and I thought that was very interesting because we had heard in some of the hearings, you know, Pam Bondi like sitting there saying she would take one by one and review them, which I thought was the appropriate. Just my position.
- [11:52]
Richie McGinnis
Right.
- [11:53]
Candy Valentino
I thought that was the appropriate position to take. Like, let's look at these one by one. So I think that's the only thing I was a little surprised by is kind of like, oh, gosh, like we did have some virus violence that happened. And it almost diminishes the pardons for the people. And again, this is just my opinion, for the people that were non violent and got.
- [12:12]
Richie McGinnis
The lectern guy would agree with you, for sure. And. Yeah, and I would, too, just because I think the way that it was done. Yeah. Pam Bondi going through one by one. There's over a thousand cases, so that would take a lot of time. He wanted that knee jerk. Okay. Boom. First day. I'm going through the entire agenda of things that I promised, and I'm going to hit it with. Hit the ground running with these executive orders. But you're right, that nuance is just completely lost in that.
- [12:42]
Candy Valentino
And it would, of course, like, I mean, thousands. And that would have taken so much time. And, you know, everybody, the. The media, citizens, everybody wants everything immediate. So who knows if that was part of that. And it is. You do. Probably it's that whole majority, minority situation. You know, a majority of them were prob. Probably that was the right decision. There was a minority of them that got caught up in the wake of the benefit of that pardon. Now, when you look at this, compared to what happened in blm, because obviously you were there with Rittenhouse, that whole situation, how was this different? How was this similar? I mean, you had. You were there witnessing when he was killed. Is that correct? Did I read that right?
- [13:25]
Richie McGinnis
Yes. When Rittenhouse, the first man that he shot, Joseph Rosenbaum, was right in front of me. And I was actually named a victim in the case as well. Not only a key witness because I was the closest one to the first shooting, but also victim because I told police I looked down when the shots went off, and I felt something go past my legs. So they made me a victim of reckless endangerment. And I tried to save that guy, Joseph Rosenbaum. I didn't know who he was. I didn't know his criminal past at that time. It was just a guy who was dying in the street, and he was pronounced dead within 10, 15 minutes of me putting them on the hospital gurney and dropping them off. But with respect to your question, as far as, like, the BLM stuff versus the MAGA unrest, the commonality there is that everybody was locked down in their houses, and that creates a certain amount of anger in the first place. When governments are shuttering your businesses or, you know, you're forced to put a mask on, or all these different mandates that were coming through, and people had a lot of pent up energy on both sides of the political spectrum. So when they finally got out into the streets, you know, that gets unleashed. But then also, additionally, it was an election year, and things got so politically charged during the Trump era that it was like, it was tribal and people came became very primal. And in those situations where the gunshots go off or where the pepper spray comes out, it's that primal part of our brain that we refuse to acknowledge that exists because we're like, modern and we have all this technology and all that. But I mean, I would argue, and I do in my book, which covers the BLM stuff, and the second one covering the mega stuff is coming out Riot Diet 2, within a month or two. Just editing it now. But it's actually because of the way our discourse is now with these social media platforms, and everybody's scrolling and they're only exposed to their particular echo chamber. I think it's gotten more polarized and more primal despite the technology that we have at our disposal. And there's less cross pollination of ideas than we had previously in previous times in America. And I mean, look no further than the way that January 6th and the BLM stuff was treated by the media. Like I said, the camera was only aimed in one particular place, but our job was to film it all. So I think the book, you know, really what I do is put a human face on Kyle Rittenhouse or Joseph Rosenbaum, the first man that he killed, or the peaceful people who wandered into the Capitol and the ones who broke the doors down and let the audience decide for themselves.
- [16:01]
Candy Valentino
Yeah. And I think that's, that's a great conversation to have, but I want to circle back to something that you had said. I mean, obviously you were there 10, 15 minutes before he was pronounced dead. You're trying to assist, getting him on a gurney. What was that like? I mean, I can't imagine that that didn't change you on some level forever, because it's not like you're a military vet. Right. Like you've seen people die or you're going into battle, like you're a guy with a camera trying to capture news. Right. And now you're in a place where this is happening. Did that drastically change for you? How did you feel moving out of that? Did you ever consider, like, okay, I'm not doing this anymore at that particular.
- [16:41]
Richie McGinnis
I certainly went through my mind and it definitely changed me. We had a mission to cover the unrest through the election, and I naively thought it was going to end after the election. Obviously it didn't. So I felt like I had to complete that mission. And also there was the pending trial. So it happened about a year and a couple of months after the shooting. And so while I was covering that, it really reinforced my role as, as a witness to these historical moments rather than as a commentator. And so I think it strengthened my resolve in doing what I did, actually. But as far as, like, the emotional toll I go through in the book, how I can take this memory that I'm telling you right now of Joseph Rosenbaum and of the shooting and of watching him pass away before my eyes and just recite it as if I'm reading a book and then dusting it off. Each time I say it, it actually, I get more distance from the memory as far as the emotion. But when you smell something like gunpowder or the smell of burnt flesh or you hear a pop, that it takes you right back to that moment. And that impression in your brain really can't be rationalized away. And Joseph Rosenbaum, by all accounts, was a bad man who committed a lot of very bad crimes. But I didn't know that at the time that he was shot in front of me. And I can't undo that impression in my brain. And I think that's what all the people behind their screens, that's why I wrote the book rather than just tweeting about it, because I get into the deeper aspect of what it's like to experience these things rather than witness them on a screen. And actually, I think audiences have become incredibly desensitized to these tragic events because you open Twitter, and depending on who you follow, you might see somebody, you know, die or get punched in the head before you even have your morning coffee. And this is just. It's a constant barrage of the worst things that are happening around the world. And I feel like there's a detachment from the actual human beings involved. Kyle Rittenhouse and Rosenbaum were both turned into the same caricatures that we saw after January 6th. You know, he's either a white supremacist or he's a hero. And Joseph Rosenbaum is either a martyr of the BLM cause or he's this deranged pedophile who deserved what he got. And I'm just really reciting my experience of what it was like to be there and talk to these people and what it was like to get caught in the media machine afterwards and fight to just state what you saw rather than, you know, everybody trying to put a spin on it.
- [19:16]
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- [19:55]
Candy Valentino
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- [20:47]
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- [20:50]
Candy Valentino
I think you're on mute.
- [20:52]
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- [21:15]
Candy Valentino
Yeah, because I would assume that would have happened to your experience and your recount of the matter as well. Right. If you didn't.
- [21:20]
Richie McGinnis
Yeah.
- [21:21]
Candy Valentino
If you didn't tell it in a way that could be turned into clickbait or could be. And now it's politicizing and polarizing this other group. Now all of a sudden you're caught in the middle of it and all you were, were just a. A dude that was there trying to capture it. And now all of a sudden, now you're being part of this agenda and I think that alone.
- [21:40]
Richie McGinnis
Right.
- [21:40]
Candy Valentino
This would be so challenging because now you're like trying to process the trauma and I thought actually what you shared is, is fascinating because that's actually what people who go through any type of trauma and abuse and situations, it's like the more you talk about it, the more you expose it, the more you pull from that, that, that feeling of reliving it. And obviously sights, smells, some things will bring it back. But the more that you kind of talk about it, you're not as emotionally triggered by it. And the affirmations don't actually work. Right, because our brains know when we're. We're lying to it, like, oh, this doesn't matter. I'm okay, right. Our. Our brains know when that's bs so the affirmations of it doesn't matter, you being able to talk about it is what. Is what does matter. But now you're talking about it, and it's being politicized. Did you see some of that happening as well?
- [22:27]
Richie McGinnis
Absolutely. I was good for the defense because I saw the first man, Rosenbaum, scream fu right before he lunged for Rittenhouse's weapon. And Rittenhouse dodged around and shot. This all happened in, like, a matter of a second. So there were four shots in 0.7 seconds. And so I was good for the defense in that respect on the charge of homicide, intentional homicide against Joseph Rosenbaum. But on the other hand, I was a victim, and it was a possible, I think 15 years in jail if he was convicted of reckless endangerment. But in Wisconsin, you can be acquitted of that, of the homicide and still charged with reckless endangerment. So I was worried, you know, for my own personal, selfish ideas of what could come out of the trial. I was worried that he would get let off and then charge just for me and I'd have to look over my shoulder for the rest of my life. But I had to just state what I saw. So I stated that I saw him scream f you and lunge for the gun. And then I also stated that I was afraid for my life in that moment when the bullet went past me. So that role kind of cast me as the friend of nobody. And I ended up getting, you know, some degree of, oh, you know, he helped get Kyle off. A lot of conservatives said that. Afterwards, I just stated what I saw. But then I wrote an article. I waited to do any press for, like, a year after the acquittal because I didn't want to add, fan the flames at all. I just served my role, and I was done. But I wrote an op ed that said, kyle Rittenhouse is not a hero. He's also not a white supremacist. And that was based on my personal experience. And I wrote about what it was like to watch Rosenbaum pass away. And I got a lot of hate from the right, death threats included, and lost thousands of followers. Not that I'm complaining. I knew that I was kicking the hornets nest, but I felt I had to relay that personal experience from my own eyes. And that just. It's not tidy, and it's not what people want to hear, you know, because everybody wants to put everything in that tidy box after these tragedies. And so the same with January 6th, where that experience. I thought I was going to get shot. I thought I was gonna get caught in the crossfire again. As I'm on the other side of the house doors, and 10 minutes later, some guy's offering me a joint. And it's like that. That surreal 10 minute experience was the same as the Rittenhouse. I offered a white claw to these guys who were yelling at Kyle Rittenhouse. I'd interviewed him right before the shooting, 15 minutes before, and these guys were yelling at him. I want to get their side of the story. They had guns and bricks. And I was like, hey, chill, don't be mad at me. I just want to hear what you guys have to say. And I offered a white claw to one of the guys and cracked it. And that was four minutes before the shooting. So that roller coaster of emotions is encapsulates the nuance there that's totally lost on our media cycle today.
- [25:21]
Candy Valentino
And it is, it's a shame, because what you had said prior speaks to that is we don't learn and evolve and grow in an echo chamber. Like, the only way that we're going to really start to progress continually as a country, as a nation, as the world, is to always be able to have difficult conversations. But you have to have some level. At least this is my experience, you have to have some level of emotional intelligence in order to have a conversation with somebody else that you don't agree with. And almost that, like, reporter aspect or that journalist aspect where you're like, well, tell me more about that. Why do you think that way? Right? As opposed to us just coming charged into a conversation about, like, if I would have come into this conversation of the way I felt you were portrayed or what was like, we wouldn't be able to have a conversation. So it's like, if people are just open and have a mental and a mental toughness to say, like, my positions aren't always right. Let's see if I can learn something here. And then you take your position at the end and decide what you decide. But to me, that's the scariest part of, like, not just legacy media, but media in general. It's happening on social media.
- [26:22]
Richie McGinnis
Yeah, it is happening with new media, too.
- [26:23]
Candy Valentino
I mean, you get one little headline, and there's no qualification of the headline. You don't. It could be somebody that just retweeted or reshared or reposted it you don't even know if it's true. And now people have perceived this idea or this belief off of seven words. Do you think there's anything that as. That we can do to try to stop that? Because, unfortunately, what happens is you get lost in the abyss of nothingness if you don't play a little bit to that game.
- [26:50]
Richie McGinnis
And the irony is, is that just the way that things played out the other side of it. So rather than the citizen journalist who has no credentials or just some random guy on Twitter who's retweeting something, as Trump leans more into the new media side of things, the legacy side of things have gotten so over their skis by pushing the narrative in the opposite direction that they're losing their credibility, too. I think there is light at the end of the tunnel where the, the best disinfectant is sunlight. And I think, you know, as long as we have somewhat open platform town square to have conversations, eventually people will go towards the individuals and the even smaller companies or the bigger companies who take a turn and say, look, let's have a conversation across the echo chambers and let's have something substantive rather than just like, people get tired of like, Trump did this again. He did it again. So the other side saying, we're winning, we're winning. You know, that could. That'll get boring. We have four years ahead of us. And I working in D.C. for the last 16 years, I've seen the people who play that game in the White House briefing room. You know, who, what. Regardless of who's president, there is a gamesmanship of staying in the White House press corps. And, you know, I think with Trump, a lot of that has gone out the window, and that's actually a good thing because the people who are actually doing their jobs eventually, I don't know if the first couple of years are going to be the best time, you know, for that nuanced approach to, like, rise to the top of people's news feeds. But if you seek out those voices in the media who you feel like are actually acting in good faith and are having those harder conversations, then you can, you can find them out there. And that, that is the hard part, which is filtering out. The people who rise to the top right now are the ones who are screaming the loudest on both sides and clutching their pearls the hardest on, you know, I can't believe this side did that. So, yeah, just look down your timeline a little bit and look for the people who are having those conversations.
- [28:44]
Candy Valentino
I love that. So I want to Talk about, obviously, your book and what you're doing, because you've got the first book out, Riot Diet, that's available. And I love the name of Pigeon Press. I'm a huge pigeon fan, so I love. I actually feel bad for pigeons because, you know, it's like they were. We use them all the time. And then the phones came along, and then all of a sudden, like, they're like, hey, you guys domesticated us and fed us, and now you don't even want us around and call us trash. So I am a huge. If I could have a whole farm of pigeons, I would, because I love them. So I love that. That's the name of it. Tell us a little bit more about your book. What do you talk about in the book that maybe we didn't cover here?
- [29:22]
Richie McGinnis
Well, I talk about all the things that the publishers told me I shouldn't talk about if I wanted to sell books, which is history. And if people are going to join you on this ride and join me on this ride of all the things that I covered and all the things that I saw drawn out of direct quotes from thousands of videos, then they have to trust the narrator. And I need to tell people where I'm coming from. So in the book, I'm not afraid to share my opinion. And it's clear when it's my opinion versus I was on the ground and they said this, but I felt this at that time. But that, that deeper story of, like, who's the narrator? And where. Where did America come from? Where did the narrator come from? So I use history and my own experience. I lost my dad at the beginning of Trump's first term in 2017, right when I started at the Daily Caller. And my experience after my dad's passing away was I learned a lot about the struggles that he faced in his life in order to provide for. I. I'm one of three boys. I'm the middle of three boys. Of course, stuck in the middle my whole life. I, you know, I learned a lot about him after the tragedy. And I tried to do the same thing with the shooting in Kenosha, with all of the chaos of the BLM stuff, and with January 6th and just being thrown into the, you know, you have a lot of emotional feelings when people say, oh, because you work here, you must think this. And they put you in that box. But really, just looking, looking back and saying, like, what? What can we learn from this? And having experienced it firsthand, my answer is, well, when I was after January 6 and after Kenosha it's, it's. I don't want to give too much away, the second book, but. Or the first one, but I was thrown into this media cycle, and after the shooting in Kenosha, I went on Tucker Carlson to tell the public what I saw, because I saw news reports that Kyle Rittenhouse opened fire on protesters. And that's not what happened. There was a guy who chased him and lunch for his gun right after he screamed f you. And so what I saw was so different from this narrative. I was like, they asked me on it was the biggest audience that I had that I could talk to. So I said, Kyle was there. I interviewed him right before he said this, he said that. And CNN said McGinnis supported the conservative claim that Rittenhouse acted in self defense. And I'm like, I'm playing the role of a witness right now. So number one, that jeopardizes my role of coming across as an unbiased witness, because I'm just here to. My job is to state what I saw and not to give my opinion. And I abstained from that on the appearance. So I said at first I wanted to, like, flank fly off the handle and like, go on Twitter and complain. My boss, who was a former jarhead Marine, he's good with these kind of crisis management situations, and my family were like, slow your roll. So my family and my co workers and my friends, they were like, fine, talk to cnn. Have me on to correct the record and we can fix this. You guys did a bad thing or prepare for court, and they had me on to correct the record. And I was able to tell that deeper story of what I saw. And through that process, it wouldn't have. I wouldn't even have been able to appear on CNN if they hadn't have so egregiously misrepresented what I said. So through that chaos, you're actually. That's what makes you able to say, okay, I'm going to stand up for myself because this is important. And, you know, I'm not going to play the game that they're playing, because for me, it really matters. I was there. And I don't, I don't want the history books to reflect what these people in a studio think. I want to want it to be from the primary sources.
- [32:57]
Candy Valentino
And thank goodness we live in a country that you're able to do that. You know, that we're still able to go against the media, that we're able to talk about the policies and positions and people in politics that we don't care about. And to me, that's still. Even though we certainly don't get everything right in this country, there's still a lot of good and a lot that is right and a lot that is just. And so I think that that's amazing that one. You stood up and spoke for yourself and that they were able to have you on. And I'm so sorry to hear about your dad.
- [33:24]
Richie McGinnis
Well, that's, that's the, that's a fact of life. And everybody deals with these things, but especially in media, you know, everybody tries to present this shiny image before the camera. And that's why I really was like, I'm going to take the time required to actually write this book and just give people the personal experience. Because I think that that's much more important. When people, 20 years from now open up the book, they'll have a feeling for what it was like to be there. And we have a tendency now in media, it's like, here's why my side is right. Every Trump era book that I've read, it's like, here's why my side's right and yours is wrong. And here, here's me in the cloud telling you the objective truth. And it's not always that neat. It's. You don't always have the, the right answer after these things, other than here's this mountain of things that I know that this person did that that person did. And let's try to make some sense of it, even if it's not the perfect picture that you want.
- [34:26]
Candy Valentino
And everyone has to make their own sense of it. Right? Really, at the end of the day, that's what it kind of boils down to. It's like, here's what happened. You have to decide how you feel about that. That's not my job to decide for you. It's my job to at least present the information in a way that you can determine that for yourself. I think that's the beauty of when you do it right and you do it authentically. That's really what you're doing. You're helping people think more clearly about not colluding their thoughts with the way you want them to think.
- [34:54]
Joe Sal Sehi
Right, Exactly.
- [34:55]
Candy Valentino
And there is an art to that. And not everybody does that for sure. Especially today in today's world. Cause I can even tell you with this podcast how many times people are like, you should lean, you know, this or that, or you should do this or that. And I'm like, but that's just, that's actually not me. Like, I Would rather be the person that, like, someone tunes into and it's like, hey, you might not like this news, but here's what you can do with it. Here's how it could be positive. Should you look at it that way? You know, yeah, that's your lane. I think that's important also. Those are. And it's not as clicky, but it's an important conversation to have.
- [35:23]
Richie McGinnis
That's correct. Definitely.
- [35:24]
Candy Valentino
Well, tell everyone where they can find the book, because is it on Amazon and everywhere else?
- [35:28]
Richie McGinnis
It's on the Bezos Boutique. Yep. You can get it. If you want to support your local bookstore, you can do that actually, as an independent publisher rather than selling it wholesale. Bezos Boutique is the best place to get it. So.
- [35:40]
Candy Valentino
Okay.
- [35:40]
Richie McGinnis
I mean, it's the same as, you know, we do have to. And I'm open with that in the book. You have to rely on these massive corporate media platforms, whether it's Twitter or Instagram or whatever, YouTube or the Bezos Boutique, to get the word out there. But you can use them in the right way. This is America, and people have the freedom to say, I'm gonna go listen to what this guy has to say about this thing. And I think there's still enough openness out there on the Internet where, yeah, people can find it. So Amazon.com riot diet. Or you can go to pigeonpress.com for the links and you can follow me at Richie McGinnis on all platforms. R I C H I E M C G I N N I S S and I'll be. For better or worse, I'll still be here in D.C. i love it. After 16 years, I'm like, the beach sounds nice. I've been trying for well over a decade and a half to get there, but maybe one day, if you buy the book, maybe I can make it there.
- [36:37]
Candy Valentino
Yeah. Well, I won't torture you by showing what's out my window then. If the ocean is where you want to get to. Exactly. But thank you so much for coming on. Thank you for just being raw and authentic and sharing this experience. As difficult as I know that journey has been for you, we'll link all the information to the book. I'm excited to read it and just learn more about kind of what happened. And so thank you for getting that voice out there. I think it's really important. This was great to have you. I appreciate it.
- [37:04]
Richie McGinnis
Thanks for having me.
- [37:05]
Joe Sal Sehi
Hi, I'm Joe Sal Sehi, host of the Stacking Benjamins podcast. Every week, we talk to experts about saving and investing, personal finance, trends, crypto. Can't do it.
- [37:13]
Richie McGinnis
You could have done all that research, all the breadcrumbs, and thought, this company's never going bankrupt.
- [37:18]
Joe Sal Sehi
Foiled again. You never knew personal finance could be this fun. Throwing down the gauntlet?
- [37:23]
Richie McGinnis
Bringing it today.
- [37:24]
Candy Valentino
I'm only going to be off by.
- [37:26]
Richie McGinnis
Six figures instead of seven.
- [37:28]
Joe Sal Sehi
Every boy has a dream, Doc.
- [37:29]
Richie McGinnis
Every boy has a dream for sure.
- [37:31]
Joe Sal Sehi
Stacking Benjamin's Follow and Listen on your favorite platform.