Idaho Lt. Gov. Ends Interview After Being Pressed About White Nationalist Ties
Idaho Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin declared an interview “over” last month when she was repeatedly pressed to explain her appearance at a recent white nationalist conference.
In a Feb. 28 interview that went viral on Wednesday, reporter Brian Holmes of Boise’s KTVB-TV asked McGeachin about her video appearance at the America First Political Action Conference in Orlando, Florida, several days earlier. McGeachin has faced calls for her resignation over the incident.
“Are you familiar with who puts this event on? Like Nick Fuentes?” Holmes asked, referring to the prominent white nationalist and antisemitic podcaster who organized the event she spoke at.
“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,” McGeachin replied.
“Did you not look into it before you decided to say OK? Like to find out? I mean, his name is on it,” Holmes pressed.
McGeachin insisted she didn’t know him. The back-and-forth continued for several minutes as Holmes pushed for a clear response while McGeachin danced around questions.
This is an incredible exchange between a local reporter and a far right politician:
reporter @KTVBBrian presses Idaho Lt. Gov McGeachin on speaking at a white nationalist conference last month.
Via @KTVBpic.twitter.com/VZynGHu3SK— Sergio Olmos (@MrOlmos) March 16, 2022
When asked if she would have spoken at the event had she known who Fuentes was, McGeachin said: “Well, again, this movement is so much bigger than one individual. Who cares what Nick Fuentes has to say? Who cares? There’s thousands and thousands of young conservatives all across the country that are very concerned about what’s happening to our country.”
She announced “interview’s over” when the reporter noted that she had also been linked to to Vincent James Foxx, head of the white nationalist website Red Elephants, and that it was “not the first time” she’d been associated with this circle.
In her AFPAC address, McGeachin told attendees she would fight to “make Idaho great again” and said she needed “freedom fighters all over this country that are willing to stand up and fight,” even if it meant fighting among Republican ranks, because too many “don’t exhibit the courage today,” according to the Daily Beast.
She is running for governor and has been endorsed by former President Donald Trump.
Other speakers at AFPAC included Republican Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (Ga.) and Paul Gosar (Ariz.), and Arizona state Sen. Wendy Rogers, also a Republican.
This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.
