Rivera - The Geraldo show: a memoir

THE

GERALDO SHOW

THE

GERALDO SHOW

__________

A Memoir

__________

Geraldo Rivera

BenBella Books, Inc.
Dallas, TX

The events, locations, and conversations in this book, while true, are recreated from the authors memory. However, the essence of the story, and the feelings and emotions evoked, are intended to be accurate representations. In certain instances, names, persons, organizations, and places have been changed to protect an individuals privacy.

Copyright 2018 by Geraldo Rivera

Interior photos Craig Rivera

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

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First E-Book Edition: April 2018

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available upon request.

ISBN: 9781944648909

e-ISBN: 9781946885203

Editing by Glenn Yeffeth and Brian Nicol

Copyediting by Brian Buchanan

Proofreading by Michael Fedison and Cape Cod Compositors, Inc.

Text design and composition by Aaron Edmiston

Cover design by Marc Whitaker/MTWdesign.net

Jacket design by Sarah Avinger

Front cover photography by Craig Rivera

Back cover photography courtesy of Fox News Channel

Printed by Lake Book Manufacturing

Distributed to the trade by Two Rivers Distribution, an Ingram brand

www.tworiversdistribution.com

To wife Erica, and daughters Isabella, Simone, and Sol, the dauntless women in my life

CONTENTS

Erica, our three daughters, and I went to South Africa on safari at the Mala Mala Game Reserve over the Christmas holidays, December 2016. We hooked up with Kevin and Julietta, our old Voyager crewmates. After sailing around the world with us, and up the Amazon River, they live now in Kevins native Cape Town. It was Sols first safari; it brought up memories of past African adventures, and a wonderful time was had by all. After stopping in Amsterdam, Holland, on the way back for a visit with my firstborn son, Gabriel, and his wife, Deb, and their firstborn child, Desmond, we got home to an uneasy America about to give a decidedly mixed welcome to President-elect Donald Trump, the longest of long-shot chief executives.

It was a tumultuous transition amidst sharp charges that Trumps presidency was illegitimate. Aside from the fact that he lost the popular vote to Hillary Clinton, who garnered almost 2.9 million more than he did, my friend Donald was being tarred by serial scandals. One included alleged Russian-sponsored hacking of Democratic Party operatives, and the inference that Russian president Vladimir Putin poisoned the minds of American voters with damaging leaks. The hard left was having a field day alluding to the Manchurian Candidateelect who was a stooge for the wily Kremlin boss.

Adding to the toxic atmosphere surrounding Trumps ascendency to the White House were the actions of FBI Director James Comey, who destroyed Hillarys momentum in the last week and a half of the campaign with a bogus story of ultimately nonexistent illegal emails. There were also salacious and almost surely false and slanderous allegations of shenanigans leveled at Trump and/or his staffers during the 2013 Miss Universe Pageant in a Moscow hotel room with prostitutes, golden showers, and so forth. True or false, it all conspired to make him the most unpopular president-elect in the history of polling. By midsummer 2017, he was the most unpopular president in the seventy-year history of polling.

With Erica, Isabella, Simone, and Sol boarding the Blue Train in Pretoria, South Africa, December 2016.

With Erica, Sol, and Isabella near the Cape of Good Hope, South Africa, December 2016.

As he carried on with his lurching transition, he did something shortly after our arrival home to New York that, despite everything, stirred optimism in my heart. On the night of January 2, 2017, with Congress officially out of session, GOP leaders had voted virtually in secret to disembowel the Office of Congressional Ethics. Some of those voting to eviscerate the office had themselves been investigated and punished for ethical lapses. President-elect Trump would not hear of it, letting Republican congressional leaders know that he opposed the underhanded move. The next morning I tweeted twice:

Geraldo Rivera @GeraldoRivera

Nice move by #PEOTUS Trump putting Republican lawmakers in their place for attempting to weaken #Ethics laws. Strong, significant signal.

Geraldo Rivera @GeraldoRivera

#GOP is about to find out who is in charge. Hint: it aint them & it wont be business as usual. It is #POTUS45 #draintheswamp

On January 12, eight days before his inauguration, I got an email from Trump assistant Meredith McIver that copied both tweets. Scrawled across it was a handwritten note from Trump: Geraldo-Miss You-Thanks! Donald

Worried that my opposition to his policies on everything from Mexican immigration to Muslims to former POW senator John McCains service had soured our friendship, I was delighted to hear from him. I emailed Meredith immediately, telling her I was honored, and asking if I could stop by to say hello before he left for Washington and the inauguration. She wrote back, He asks if you are here now? Can you come up? Let us know your schedule. Hes here Tues/Weds next week as well...

Glad that I had shaved my scrawny vacation beard, at four oclock that afternoon I was escorted up the gilded elevator at Trump Tower to his transition office. After waiting a few minutes as he and the first ladyelect met with Missouri senator Roy Blunt and his wife, who were helping organize the inaugural festivities, I was escorted in. As he was leaving, Senator Blunt was helpful, pointing out that I had been among the first to predict that Trump would be the eventual GOP nominee. I was grateful no one asked whom I voted for in the general election; it would have been awkward. As the Missourians left, Melania lingered to ask by name how Erica and Sol were doing. She told me how excited she was about her husbands extraordinary success.

Trump was relaxed and confident, sharing his sincere excitement at the prospect of living in the White House, belying the notion that he would consider it slumming after the luxury of his Trump Tower digs and his winter palace, Mar a Lago in Palm Beach, Florida.

The next day I posted a picture of us, and said on Facebook:

Great spending time with the President-elect yesterday afternoon. He started by joking that I look better without the beard. But then he went right into a serious discussion about how he is getting the American taxpayer a break on the F-35 fighter jet. The first lady-elect, Melania, was there. She could not have been more gracious. She remembered Ericas name and invited us to the White House. The President-elect joked about Celebrity Apprentice and about how Arnold Schwarzenegger is not doing nearly as well as he did.