Rudy’s Biggest Headache - Brave New Films

Just when you thought that there was hope for Democracy in America. This morning, I was thrown out of a Rudy Giulliani press conference in Santa Monica, California after being told I was welcome to attend. The reason? They found out I worked for Brave New Films.

We were all curious as to why Rudy Giuliani did not think it was important to attend the Republican presidential debate tonight at Morgan State University in Baltimore, a historically black college. The debate, hosted by Tavis Smiley will focus on issues important to minority communities. Giuliani’s campaign suggested there were “important scheduling conflicts”. So, we decided to see what was more important than listening to and addressing the concern’s of African-American voters.

We discovered that Giuliani’s schedule today was to include campaign stops in Santa Monica, Santa Barbara and Lancaster, California. According to the Bay Area Center For Voting Research,

Lancaster, California ranks among the top 25 conservative cities in the country. It’s population is also 63% white and 16% African-American. 

Clearly it was more important for Rudy to go pander to his white, conservative base in Lancaster, then to listen to and engage African-American voters nationwide.

The first stop in Santa Monica at 10AM was to be a press conference where he was to receive the endorsement of former Republican Governor of California Pete Wilson. Well we thought why not go and see if we could ask Pete and Rudy a polite question or two. So I called Giuliani’s press officer in New York, Alexis Garcia, who assured me and I quote,

The press conference was open to all interested parties and that no press credentials were needed.

I also confirmed this with the Fairmont Miramar hotel before I left, wearing a nice suit jacket and dress shirt. I arrived at the hotel at 9:45AM and checked in at the front door with a nice young woman with Giuliani’s campaign team. She wrote my name down on a legal pad and I again asked to make sure that no press credentials were needed. She smiled and said no, go right on in. I did and found myself a seat in the second row and waited for the press conference to begin. A few minutes later another woman, blond, tall and not looking happy came up to me and asked me who I was and who I was with. I told her my name is John Ehrenfeld, I am a writer for Brave New Films and my blog the Policy Room. She immediately said and I again quote,

I am going to have to ask you to leave.

I asked why and referenced all the other people in the room with no credentials hanging around their neck; she just glared and said again that I was going to have to leave. Security soon escorted me from the room, no histrionics, no muss no fuss. I was polite and did as I was asked and left the room. I was then approached by a reporter from KPCC radio Frank Stoltze who interviewed me. I have since has another conversation with Mr. Stoltze, on the phone, after the event ended. He told me someone in the roon, possibly with the Guiliani party said I had not identified myself. I suppose giving my name at the door and again when I was asked was not enough. What I think they really meant to say was, we don't like Brave New Films because they produced 'The Real Rudy' which exposed Rudy's lies and distortions on and after 9/11.

I went downstairs to get a cup of coffee and proceeded to sit down on a couch in the hallway to make a few phone calls. Immediately security came up to me, even though I was well outside the room, in a public place, sitting on a couch talking on the phone. They told me that this was now “an incident” and that if I didn’t leave I would be arrested. They firmly escorted me through a side door of the hotel and barked out to the valet parking folks to get my car and to make sure I left the premises immediately.

It was rather an illuminating experience to see the power that Brave New Films and the free alternative press has and the perceived threat they present to the right-wing in this country. I can only imagine what a Giuliani presidency would be like.