Local Reporter Praised For Viral Interview Pushing Idaho Lt. Governor on White Nationalist Ties: ‘As Painful As This is to Watch – It Matters’

Alex GriffingMar 16th, 2022, 1:50 pm
 

Brian Holmes, a reporter with Boise’s KTVB-TV, grilled Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin (R-ID) in late February for addressing a white nationalist event, in an interview that has since gone viral on social media. Holmes confronted McGeachin after she made a video appearance at Nick Fuentes’ America First Political Action Conference in Orlando at the end of February.

Republican Reps. Paul Gosar (R-AZ) and Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) also spoke at the conference, receiving resounding condemnation, even from within their own party. At the time, Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel slammed their appearance, issuing a statement that read: “White supremacy, neo-Nazism, hate speech and bigotry are disgusting and do not have a home in the Republican Party.”

Fuentes, who organized the event, is a known Holocaust denier and leads the so-called Groyper Army, which is dedicated to moving the American Right toward white nationalism.

Holmes asked McGeachin, “Are you familiar with who puts this event on? Like, Nick Fuentes?”

She responded, “I don’t, I don’t know who he is. I don’t. I’ve never met him. I don’t know who he is.”

“Did you not look into it before you decided to say, ‘okay’? Like to find out? I mean, his name is on it,” Holmes hit back.

McGeachin replied, “Well, you know what, Nick Fuentes, as I said, I don’t know him. I, he’s never, I’ve never met him. I don’t know, you know, what is everything that he says or doesn’t say, is not, does not reflect on who I am or who the thousands of others that are participating in this movement.”

“OK, you didn’t bother to look up his name,” Holmes then said.

“I didn’t say that,” she shot back.

The two went back and forth, with McGeachin concluding:

Again, it’s not fair. I mean, the mainstream media, you do this to conservatives all the time, but you don’t do it to yourself. That every time, any time there’s any kind of affiliation with anybody at any time on any stage that we’re all guilty by association.

And it’s not it’s not appropriate.

“But the association is not a good one,” Holmes insisted, “to be associated with people who are anti-Semitic.”

“Stop, stop. Excuse me, excuse me,” McGeachin retorted. “You asked me why I was there, why I wanted to participate and speak to these young conservatives. That’s what we’re talking about right now.”

The interview ended abruptly with McGeachin saying, “Interview’s over.”

While the interview didn’t grab headlines at the time, it has garnered praise for Holmes and been held up as example of how to hold a politician accountable by reporters and observers in the weeks since.

Journalist Sergio Olmos shared the clip on Twitter Tuesday, writing, “This is an incredible exchange between a local reporter and a far right politician.”

Praise continued to pour in for Holmes. MSNBC’s Stephanie Ruhle added, “As painful as this is to watch – it matters.”

Jared Holt, who researches extremism, noted, “Excellent work by this reporter. He doesn’t just accept the deflection and move on, he keeps drilling. McGeachin is visibly uncomfortable by the end of it, unable to bring herself to even acknowledge the premise: she spoke to an event *hosted* by a racist antisemitic podcaster.”

NPR’s Peter Sagal opined, “I genuinely don’t understand why these people don’t proudly brag about what they’re doing and why. If it’s a shameful accusation, why do they keep doing it?”

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Alex Griffing - Senior Editor

Alex Griffing is a Senior Editor at Mediaite. Send tips via email: alexanderg@mediaite.com. Follow him on Twitter: @alexgriffing