July 7, 2025 • 32 mins
In this episode, Tudor interviews veteran political reporter Salena Zito about her book 'Butler,' which explores the heartland of America through the lens of the attempted assassination of Donald Trump. Zito shares her experiences covering the shooting at a Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, and discusses the broader implications of place and community in American politics. The conversation delves into Trump's unique connection with the everyman and the importance of understanding the heartland's narrative in shaping political landscapes. The Tudor Dixon Podcast is part of the Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Podcast Network. For more visit TudorDixonPodcast.com
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to the Tutor Dixon Podcast. Today, we are going
to take a little bit of a tour back in
time to Butler, Pennsylvania, because I have Selena Zito with me.
She is a veteran political reporter with more than twenty
years of experience based in the swing state of Pennsylvania.
And I believe Western Pennsylvania, which is where I was born,
(00:22):
where my parents grew up.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
So as I was reading this book, I didn't know that. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
And as I'm reading this same my dad's from Pittsburgh,
and I'm reading this book and I'm like, man, this
it was so powerful because just the way you talked
about seeing someone in Pittsburgh being so small, and all
of the conversations throughout this book about Pennsylvania were very
meaningful to me, but I think so meaningful to the
entire country. So she's written a book. It's called Butler.
(00:50):
I'm going to hold it up here so you can see.
And I said to you before we got on, it's
so much more than Butler.
Speaker 2 (00:56):
So thank you for writing this.
Speaker 3 (00:59):
Thank you.
Speaker 4 (00:59):
It is is so much more than Butler.
Speaker 3 (01:01):
Obviously, that's a very pivotal moment, right, I think all
of us have seen to some degree or another what happened,
either through television or social media, or you knew someone
or you were there.
Speaker 4 (01:16):
However, the story of Butler is the story of the
heartland of this country. And whether you live in Pennsylvania
or Michigan, or Ohio or Wisconsin, North Carolina, anywhere.
Speaker 5 (01:27):
That that that is often sort of not thot thought
of as part of elite culture, right right, you.
Speaker 4 (01:37):
Can see yourself and you can feel and you will
you read that book and you're like, I know these people.
I see these people every day. That's my family, that's me,
that's my neighbors.
Speaker 5 (01:49):
And that is I think what is part of what's
most compelling about the book, not not just the you
know that day and what led up to that day,
but it also explains why President Trump picks places like Butler.
Speaker 4 (02:08):
To go to, why he picks smaller places in Michigan
or Wisconsin or Ashtabula, Ohio, wherever he shows up. He
has this intuitive understanding of seeing people that are rarely
seen and being able.
Speaker 5 (02:23):
To showcase those people throughout the country by showing up
in their towns.
Speaker 1 (02:30):
Well, as I'm reading this, you know, you start with
the day of stress and getting ready, and it's so relatable.
As I'm reading this, I'm like everybody who has ever
had anything for business to get to understands this. And
if you've been through a Trump rally, you really understand
this because there's that moment where you're like, we have
(02:50):
this much time to get there. We've got to get
through the line, we've got to get through security, and
you had the most important day. You're interviewing the president.
Your daughter is going with you, she's going to take pictures,
and you have all this anticipation of what it's going
to be. It's hot, you're preparing for that, and I
think reading it, you're in a different position because we
(03:11):
already know what's about to happen, but you're taking us
through the before, even the before with the president because
you talk about getting there and they're rushing you in
and you think you the plans change at the last minute.
You think you're interviewing him after the rally, they rush
you in. You're like, oh my goodness, are we going
to interview him now? But you have this rare few
(03:32):
minutes to just talk to him. And that, to me
is the behind the scenes that so many people will
never know. If you don't read this book, is that
you get to walk in there and see him just
moments before he is shot, and he talks to you
and he's so welcoming, he's so warm, and he's so
excited for the people, and he talks about what you think.
(03:56):
He's also very inquisitive about how you feel about things
throughout the whole book book.
Speaker 2 (04:00):
Every time you talk to him, you.
Speaker 1 (04:02):
See this side of the president that some of us know,
that most people don't believe is real, and you capture
it so beautifully in this book, not only that day,
but when he returns to Butler. And I think that
when you talk about the return to Butler, that part
of the book to me was even more powerful because
he's so concerned with Corey's family, the firefighter who died,
(04:26):
and you talk about how there's a true weight on
him that someone was lost, And I knew that was
how he felt, but to see how you captured it
in words was incredible.
Speaker 4 (04:40):
Yeah, We've had several very powerful conversations about Butler about
what happened that day, about face. You know that you
read the book and his real sort of awakening to
the mean hand was on me.
Speaker 2 (04:58):
That was powerful.
Speaker 5 (05:00):
Yeah, the hand of God when he said that. You know,
he said that to me the day after the shooting.
This is in the book. I'll give people a little
a little window into it. But he calls me early
the next morning, and before I even say hello, he says,
(05:20):
this is Donald Trump, Like I don't know, it's Donald.
Speaker 4 (05:22):
Trump, right, And the first thing he asks is, how
are you, Selena? How is your daughter and your son
in law? Because my daughter is a photo journalist. She
is often with me in the field covering just everyday events,
let alone a big interview like this. And we dragged
(05:46):
my son in law along with us for a complete
vanity reason. Right, there's gonna be one hundred and one
degrees that day, and it was, and we thought, well,
we'll make him carry all the equipment so we look
nice and you know, crisp and clean. That did not happen.
I mean, he carried everything, but we did not look
(06:07):
crisp and cream.
Speaker 5 (06:08):
We were sweaty, and you know, I have Italian hair.
Speaker 6 (06:13):
It was.
Speaker 4 (06:15):
There's this famous scene in the Friends show where Monica
says it's the humidity because her hair got really big.
Speaker 5 (06:22):
And I always feel like I have to say I
have to make an excuse for my hair, right, but
you know so, so he called and he said are
you okay? And I did something that I rarely do, No,
I've never done with the President.
Speaker 4 (06:38):
I swore I.
Speaker 6 (06:40):
Did say, are you kidding me?
Speaker 5 (06:43):
You were the one that was shot, not me, But
that empathy and compassion and concern was the first thing
out of his mouth.
Speaker 6 (06:51):
And people will.
Speaker 5 (06:53):
Find out that moment will come to life in a minute, bigger,
more profound way later in those conversations that day.
Speaker 6 (07:03):
He called me seven times that day.
Speaker 5 (07:05):
When he talks about people think that that President Trump
said a fight, fight, fight for a vanity reason, right,
like for a photo off. There is a very deep
and profound reason why he says that.
Speaker 6 (07:18):
And I can't wait.
Speaker 5 (07:19):
Till people read about that, because it was It even
took my breath away that that in that moment, you know,
you don't know how you're going to act in a
moment of crisis and in a moment of being shot
at right.
Speaker 1 (07:34):
Right exactly, That's what I've always said. You can't plan
for that.
Speaker 5 (07:39):
No, we don't sit down in ho at home and go, well,
if I'm shot, this is what I'm going to do, right,
but but you know, the way the kids thought process
and why he did that, I think.
Speaker 6 (07:50):
Is going to low people's It's really powerful.
Speaker 1 (07:54):
And even even getting to see it from your perspective
is incredibly powerful because you were right so many of us.
I mean, I think probably the entire world has watched
that moment on TV. You hear the shots, you see
him grab his ear, you see him stand back up.
So many people have seen what happened on TV. But
(08:14):
you were right there.
Speaker 2 (08:16):
It's almost like, I mean, that's a god thing too.
Speaker 1 (08:18):
You were placed there because you're the storyteller and you
tell the stories so beautifully. And I mean just from
this from not only what you see as you go down,
you're being held down on the ground too. That I
also found fascinating. You were immediately protected. People were talking
about you know, it was total chaos, but you have
a secret Service agent who has his hand on you.
(08:40):
He's protecting you in that moment. It's his first instinct
is to make sure the people around him are safe.
But just the sounds that you hear, the I mean,
the way you describe the cheers and then the blood
curdling scream and all of the things that happened.
Speaker 2 (08:56):
It was as I'm.
Speaker 1 (08:57):
Reading the book. It takes you into that moment so perfectly.
I have to tell you, and I'm tearing up, you know,
I'm reading this and I'm like, gosh, you were there.
You saw you could see that you had a bird's
eye view of the president.
Speaker 6 (09:12):
Yeah, it was only a few feet away.
Speaker 5 (09:14):
And actually the person who so I when the first
four shots went off, I'm a gun owner. I knew
exactly what it was. I didn't get down. I don't
know what that is in me that happened. But I
just like, have a job to do and I'm gonna
do it. And and the second four shots go off
(09:35):
and four, yeah, it felt like four. And I could
still hear them in my head. The guy who took
me down, he wasn't a secret service agent. He was
the campaign's press leap. Oh, this young man, you know,
in his late twenties, just was so brave and so
(10:00):
detective just took me down on the ground and laid
on top of me until he knew everything was all clear.
And just his comportment, his composure, his professionalism, but also
his compassion in that moment. That young man, to me
is someone that is also a gift from God. He
(10:24):
is an angel because he really responded. You know, some
people step up in a moment. He didn't have to
do that.
Speaker 6 (10:31):
I was a reporter, he's a press a.
Speaker 5 (10:34):
You know, you want to protect yourself, right, There was
no reason for him to make the decisions that he did,
and yet he did.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
Let's take a quick commercial break. We'll continue next on
the Tutor Dixon Podcast. And as I'm reading this, I'm like,
all of these people they came together. There was nobody
who ran. That was the other fascinating thing. It wasn't
total chaos. And that young man he could have bolted.
(11:03):
All of these people could have just been running scattered.
But even and that was a conversation that you had
with the president too. Even he was like, you know,
the people, they didn't freak out, they didn't run.
Speaker 5 (11:14):
Yeah, you know, it has part part and part a
large part has to do with just the mindset of
the people that attended Trump rally.
Speaker 6 (11:24):
You know, there have been.
Speaker 5 (11:25):
All sorts of horrible stories written about what journalists and
I'm I'm a journalist, but what journalists think Trump.
Speaker 6 (11:37):
Supporters are right, all sorts.
Speaker 5 (11:40):
Of derogatory comments thrown their way, violent, racist, whatever, you know,
whatever is for they want to use, however, has never
been I've been to dozens and dozens of them covering
them as a reporter, and that has never been my experience.
My experience has always been it's like a Jimmy Buffett concert.
Speaker 6 (12:02):
Right, except the people trade in parrot.
Speaker 5 (12:05):
Hats and and and and Hawaiian shirts for patriotic gear.
People are believe they're part of something bigger than self.
There with people there to celebrate and and so you know,
you take that mindset and and you you place it
(12:25):
in a in a in a very horrific scenario. And
the response, while it was surprising in the moment, as
you're more reflective, you understand, well, of course that's how
they behave well. Of course, people were taking care of
each other, of course, no one can. Much of that
(12:46):
had to do with how the president handled when he
was shot and getting up and showing strength, but a
lot of it just had to do with these people
that are part of something bigger than self, and and
and so when people left the.
Speaker 6 (13:06):
Farm show complex, which is like a huge farm field.
Speaker 5 (13:09):
Basically they just left very orderly, They were very quiet.
I was held in the back for over an hour
before they let me and several other photo journalists and
my daughter and my son in law out. I think
they thought we were injured. I mean, most people who
saw that sort of iconic photo because it was on
(13:31):
the front.
Speaker 6 (13:31):
Pages of a lot of papers the day.
Speaker 5 (13:33):
After with Michelle McCard the campaign on top of me.
All you see are my legs in my booth, my boots.
Thank god, I wore a score that day. I'm just saying,
thank goodness I had to wearwithal because my legs were
all up in the air. But people recognized me because
(13:55):
I always wear cowboy booths everywhere with a skirt dressed
gown my daughter's wedding, I always have cowboy So there
were a lot of people that thought I had died,
you know, including members of my own family wow, because
of that photo. But but I'm getting ahead of myself,
(14:15):
as when we came out, there was nothing left in
the farm field, right.
Speaker 6 (14:21):
Everybody had exited.
Speaker 5 (14:23):
Everybody had exited very quietly, and there's that sort of
beautiful crane with the American flag is still flowing.
Speaker 6 (14:33):
It was very powerful to see that there were water
bottles all over the place.
Speaker 5 (14:40):
The garbage cans had become overflown, and you know, people
just drop them to get out there. And there was
a wheelchair in the middle of the farm field, but
yet there was no panic. And we get over the
hill to where they had the parking area and nobody
had left because they didn't let anybody leave. This I
saw the most miraculous thing. People were out of their cars,
(15:03):
they were talking, they were hugging, they were sharing food,
they were sharing water, and it was you know, and
I talked to other journalists that cover the that day
and they said they never saw anything like it. You know,
there was just this calmness that was really something to
be admired in that moment.
Speaker 1 (15:27):
Even when you talk about going back and sitting with
in that hour that you're sitting with the other journalists
back there, just the emotion that you go through and
that you talk about that's in that room in the moment,
and it's so real and it's so raw, and it
really I love the way it takes us into this
glimpse that none of us would have seen.
Speaker 2 (15:48):
But then that's not it.
Speaker 1 (15:50):
I want people to know that the book is so
much there's so much more depth than that, because you
take us through the campaign, then you kind of bring
us full circle back to but.
Speaker 2 (16:00):
And you take us through all of the other things.
You take us through Puerto Rico, and you talked about
the reporters.
Speaker 1 (16:07):
That want to attack the president on a regular basis
and say he's racist, and that this was the moment
that they thought, Okay, we've got him. Now we're going
to raise Kama up and this is it for him.
Speaker 2 (16:18):
But the whole time, you.
Speaker 1 (16:19):
Knew there's like this understanding inside of you. And I
think it was what you said at the beginning that
you knew the people. You knew the dedication of the
people who wanted to see the country preserved, and they
believed that Donald Trump is the person to do that.
And I think he's proven that he is restoring the country. Mean,
(16:40):
we don't have border crossings anymore, we don't have all
of this chaos in the world. Donald Trump is truly
a man of the people. But you also take us
through something that I think is so important because of
what we're seeing in New York right now. And I
want to kind of dive deep into this because we
see Mom, Donnie, and he is this man of a
(17:01):
million faces. I don't know if any if you've ever
watched Game of Thrones, there's this way to put it. Yeah,
there's this there's this scene in Game of Thrones, and
I don't know if you've ever watched it, but it's
like the faceless man and they can become anyone. And
that's that is like, this is literally an evil character
in a television show that can become anyone. And that's
(17:23):
who I see Mom Donnie being. However, I think that
the play is off of who Donald Trump truly is,
but he's not trying to play. And that's what you
capture so well. Is he goes into McDonald's and you
talk about how there's a joy and people go, man,
there's a joy people enjoy seeing someone say I want
(17:44):
to be with you, guys. It's not that he's impersonating someone.
He wants to be with the people. You capture that
so well, and I think that's what the Democrat Party
is trying to to steal.
Speaker 2 (17:57):
But they're using actors.
Speaker 5 (17:59):
Yeah, you know, President Trump. I remember the first time
I interviewed him and thinking, Okay, this is the public
perception of him. He's this three time married playboy dating
Howard Stern regular who you know who has constructed you know,
(18:20):
lives in a gold high rise in Tower Trump Tower
in New York. Right, that's the construct that that people
are are handed. Right, he's not going to have a
connection to the working class. That it's all a mirage.
So I sit down with him in Pittsburgh in September
(18:43):
of twenty sixteen, and we're at a shale conference. This
is Marcella Shale. It's just starting to it's sort of
in its sixth year. It's really starting to boom because
shale hadn't been discovered in Pennsylvania until I think two
thousand and nine, twenty ten, right, so this is just
taking off. And at this convention are all of these
(19:04):
what I call suits, right, these wealthy they're not bad people,
they're just you know, sort of wealthy and successful, and
you know, and they want a piece of him, right,
they want to talk to them. And then there's the
guys and girls that work in the oil fields, right,
they're there too. And then there are the people that
(19:25):
are working the event. Right, they're the ones behind the
curt the janitors, the people, the caterers, the electricians, the plumbers, right,
they're all moving around they're all moving parts behind the scene.
Speaker 6 (19:40):
They're what makes the convention happen, right, they.
Speaker 5 (19:43):
Are what makes everything look beautiful on the other side
of the curt So President Trump and I sit down
and we do the interview. It's in that interview that
I say to him, you know, sir, it's been my
experience that voters take you seriously, but they don't take
everything you say literally, whereas my profession takes you literally.
(20:08):
They don't take you all that seriously. And he thought
about that, and he goes, oh, that's a really interesting way
to look at it.
Speaker 6 (20:15):
And so after the interview, he says, come on, let's
go take a walk.
Speaker 5 (20:20):
And I'm like, okay, mind you, this is the first
time I've ever met him. So we leave what was
a curtain dop area called the green room, and we
start walking through.
Speaker 6 (20:32):
The back of the convention hall.
Speaker 5 (20:34):
That's where all the regular people are, right, the janitors,
the plumbers, the caterers, the people pushing around carts of water.
And he just starts going up and talking to them.
No cameras are there, right, it's you know, all on background.
It's not on the record. And so he's not getting
(20:55):
anything from this, right, this is not a performance.
Speaker 6 (20:59):
And he starts to talking back and forth with them
about their lives. What do you do, why do you
do it? How many you know?
Speaker 5 (21:05):
Are you married, did you go to college? How long
has your family lived in your neighborhood? That kind of thing, right,
the normal kinds of things you have have when you
have a conversation with someone that you just met. And
it was in that moment that I understood him. That
what his two superpowers are. That is his curiosity about
(21:29):
people's lives. That's a sense of humanity that most politicians
do not possess. They wish they did, They try to bag,
but they don't possess. If you've ever had a conversation
with a politician, seven times out of ten, if you're lucky,
they don't look past you while you're talking, right, they
(21:51):
look at you Trump. That's one of Trump's superpowers. He
never takes his eyes off of you when he's talking
to you. He doesn't look away, he doesn't look past you.
He looks at he looks he's he's in the moment
with you. Uh. And the other superpower is, you know,
this is a guy from the outer borough. He's not
from Manhattan. Right. And so there's this this sort of
(22:16):
layers of elitism in New York where if you're from
the outskirts, the outer borough, right, you're not part of
the club.
Speaker 6 (22:24):
Your all your new money, you're not old money.
Speaker 5 (22:27):
And and he spent a lot of his life and
coming up in the business of building in real estate,
working with the men and women that bake stuff. So
his connective tissue is and this is the thing that
my profession really missed, is his connective tissue is for the.
Speaker 6 (22:46):
Everyman, is with the everyman, and it's genuine.
Speaker 5 (22:50):
His connective tissue isn't with the people that that were
from Manhattan, that were from Park Avenue.
Speaker 6 (22:57):
Ye, he got there, but just like the rest of.
Speaker 5 (23:00):
The people who want to earn their way up in life,
you know, he never forgot the people that made that
made his success possible.
Speaker 1 (23:10):
I think what you're saying right now is so critical
because there is a huge difference between a Donald Trump
and a JD.
Speaker 2 (23:17):
Pritzker.
Speaker 1 (23:18):
JD. Pritzker is a he's a born billionaire. He has
had a silver spoon in his mouth. He has no connection.
And I've seen this across many different areas of my life.
When you meet somebody who built their own wealth as
opposed to somebody who has always grown up with wealth.
There is a huge difference in the way they connect
(23:39):
to humanity. I mean, they just have had a different life,
They've had different experiences, They've had to fight for what
they have. And I think that that instant reaction of fight, fight, fight,
keep going was really what he was saying, don't.
Speaker 2 (23:53):
Let this stop.
Speaker 1 (23:55):
I think that's because inside of him, he's always been building,
always been building.
Speaker 5 (24:01):
I have, I've been around, I've been in the field
a long time.
Speaker 6 (24:08):
I approach.
Speaker 5 (24:10):
Journalism and covering politics and culture, and you know, those
two overlap in so many ways, in a very different way,
but it's a way that used to be the standard.
So I don't fly, not because I'm afraid to. I
fall asleep as soon as I get on a plane,
so you know, you can throw the fear thing out.
(24:31):
But I don't fly because I would miss so much
of what happens between point A and point B. I
also don't take interstates. I only take back rows because
if you take an interstate, you may as well fly,
because you know, the only place you stop is like
at an interchange, and it's the same gas station and
(24:54):
the same.
Speaker 6 (24:55):
Foods place, and you know, Strip Mall, and then you're
back on and you really don't under the understand the
depths of what's happening in the country, what places are
doing good, what places are not doing good?
Speaker 5 (25:09):
Why, how you know? And you don't learn about the
resiliency of the American people if you're on an airplane.
So you know, I take the reader back a little
bit so that they understand why President Trump picks showing up.
Speaker 6 (25:28):
In places like Butler.
Speaker 5 (25:31):
Right, If anybody's old enough to remember the song Allentown,
there was a Billy Joel song and it's very sort
of mournful and nostalgic about the decay of this hometown
because the loss of manufacturing and then the trick will
effect it had on churches and neighborhoods. Right. And there
(25:55):
were people when that song came out all across the
country that sang along with They'd never even been to Allentown.
But it's because Allentown represented so many places across the country.
It became a cultural touchdown. And that's what places like
East Palestine are. Yeah, that's what places like Butler are.
(26:18):
There's only been two presidents that have ever campaigned for
election for president in the entirety of our country in Butler,
and that was JFK and Donald Trump.
Speaker 2 (26:31):
Let's take a quick commercial break. We'll continue next on
the Tutor Dixon Podcast.
Speaker 1 (26:39):
The fact that you bring up that there were two
attempted assassinations on presidents there was fascinating.
Speaker 5 (26:47):
Yeah, so President Trump, it is not the only president
to have been shot at right by their ear.
Speaker 6 (26:56):
In Butler. George Washington won. This was well and I
won't give too much away, but.
Speaker 5 (27:04):
I think what is important about understanding two presidents, two
presidents of consequence right, like the country will look incredibly
different had they not been president.
Speaker 1 (27:20):
Maybe that journey you take us on, Honestly, that is
worth going into this book and reading it because it
just the way you take us through that journey, and
then the reaction of President Trump when you talk to him,
it brings it all together in such a powerful way.
Speaker 2 (27:37):
I really appreciated that.
Speaker 6 (27:40):
Thank you so much.
Speaker 5 (27:42):
I think I hope, I hope that people understand that
this book isn't just about Butler, although that is a
pivotable and powerful moment, but it's also a story and
a journey through America and I'm up in Michigan in
the story too.
Speaker 6 (28:00):
As well as in Wisconsin.
Speaker 5 (28:01):
Uh these I usually cover Appalachia and the Great Lakes Midwest.
It's about place and how place dominates how we vote,
and it is an emotion and and a gravital pull
to our rootedness that most political strategists don't even know
(28:24):
how to understand it. Yeah, President Trump was very very
good in understanding the nuance and and the and the
and the fabric of why place impacts people's votes. It's
it's why people did not understand why the working class
voting for President Trump wasn't just going to be white,
(28:47):
it was also Hispanic and black and Asian in a
massive way, because the Democrats kept putting people in silos
and trying to connect them.
Speaker 6 (29:00):
From each other.
Speaker 5 (29:02):
Right, that's so true, That's not what was happening in
this country. You know, working class voters, Black, White, Hispanic, Asian,
they voted shoulder to shoulder with their community because of place,
because of how tired they are to each other, to.
Speaker 6 (29:19):
A community and to family.
Speaker 5 (29:21):
And the Democrats completely did not understand that, and in
a breathtaking way. And so I take the voters in
I mean, I take the readers inside those moments and
inside those families' lives, so they have a better understanding
of what is happening in our country.
Speaker 1 (29:42):
So much though, so I will tell people it comes
up out on July eighth. It is called Butler, The
Untold Story of the near Assassination of Donald Trump and
the Fight for America's Heartland. You read this book, it's
going to be more than Butler. Like I said before,
you're going to meet intimately meet characters that you hear
about every day. Susie Wiles an amazing woman. You're going
(30:03):
to meet her in this book. Chris las Avita, even
Elon Musk, all of these characters come through and you
and you can tell throughout this book that the President
has this incredible belief in you, Selena, this incredible trust
in you. And that's why this is so much more
than a book.
Speaker 2 (30:22):
It's history.
Speaker 1 (30:23):
It is going to be impactful for generations to come.
So I want to thank you today. Is there anything
you want to tell people about where they can get it?
Speaker 6 (30:31):
Oh, you can just.
Speaker 5 (30:31):
Get it on Amazon or at your local bookstore. I hope,
I hope people enjoy it. If you do read it
and you liked it. Please, you know, comment on Twitter.
It's at Zito, Selena. I'd love to hear from you.
I'd love to hear what your thoughts were about it.
Speaker 1 (30:50):
I mean, it's great and at the very least, you
have an amazing picture that you get to put on
a coffee table. That picture she did, I love it.
That's what we were talking about this morning. We're like,
I mean, this is a great book to have about.
Speaker 5 (31:02):
Yeah. J took that as so as we were, and
readers will find out. We're in the We're in the
back with him before he goes out, and he has
this running joke and you read it in the book
and he always says, Hey, Selene, you want to go
out on the stage with me.
Speaker 1 (31:20):
I'm like no, But that's what I mean. There's this
trust between the two of you. There's a genuine he
cares and that's what It's not just you, that's how
he feels about people. You capture it so well and
I just so appreciate it. It's been such a great conversation.
Selena Zito. Please check her out. Check out this book.
Speaker 2 (31:41):
It's amazing.
Speaker 1 (31:42):
Thank you and thank you all for joining us on
the Tutor Dixon Podcast.
Speaker 2 (31:46):
For more, you can go to Tutor Dixon podcast dot.
Speaker 1 (31:48):
Com, iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Also,
you can watch us on Rumble and YouTube at tutor Dixon.
But make sure you join us next time and have
a blessed day.
Welcome to the Tutor Dixon Podcast. Today, we are going
to take a little bit of a tour back in
time to Butler, Pennsylvania, because I have Selena Zito with me.
She is a veteran political reporter with more than twenty
years of experience based in the swing state of Pennsylvania.
And I believe Western Pennsylvania, which is where I was born,
(00:22):
where my parents grew up.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
So as I was reading this book, I didn't know that. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
And as I'm reading this same my dad's from Pittsburgh,
and I'm reading this book and I'm like, man, this
it was so powerful because just the way you talked
about seeing someone in Pittsburgh being so small, and all
of the conversations throughout this book about Pennsylvania were very
meaningful to me, but I think so meaningful to the
entire country. So she's written a book. It's called Butler.
(00:50):
I'm going to hold it up here so you can see.
And I said to you before we got on, it's
so much more than Butler.
Speaker 2 (00:56):
So thank you for writing this.
Speaker 3 (00:59):
Thank you.
Speaker 4 (00:59):
It is is so much more than Butler.
Speaker 3 (01:01):
Obviously, that's a very pivotal moment, right, I think all
of us have seen to some degree or another what happened,
either through television or social media, or you knew someone
or you were there.
Speaker 4 (01:16):
However, the story of Butler is the story of the
heartland of this country. And whether you live in Pennsylvania
or Michigan, or Ohio or Wisconsin, North Carolina, anywhere.
Speaker 5 (01:27):
That that that is often sort of not thot thought
of as part of elite culture, right right, you.
Speaker 4 (01:37):
Can see yourself and you can feel and you will
you read that book and you're like, I know these people.
I see these people every day. That's my family, that's me,
that's my neighbors.
Speaker 5 (01:49):
And that is I think what is part of what's
most compelling about the book, not not just the you
know that day and what led up to that day,
but it also explains why President Trump picks places like Butler.
Speaker 4 (02:08):
To go to, why he picks smaller places in Michigan
or Wisconsin or Ashtabula, Ohio, wherever he shows up. He
has this intuitive understanding of seeing people that are rarely
seen and being able.
Speaker 5 (02:23):
To showcase those people throughout the country by showing up
in their towns.
Speaker 1 (02:30):
Well, as I'm reading this, you know, you start with
the day of stress and getting ready, and it's so relatable.
As I'm reading this, I'm like everybody who has ever
had anything for business to get to understands this. And
if you've been through a Trump rally, you really understand
this because there's that moment where you're like, we have
(02:50):
this much time to get there. We've got to get
through the line, we've got to get through security, and
you had the most important day. You're interviewing the president.
Your daughter is going with you, she's going to take pictures,
and you have all this anticipation of what it's going
to be. It's hot, you're preparing for that, and I
think reading it, you're in a different position because we
(03:11):
already know what's about to happen, but you're taking us
through the before, even the before with the president because
you talk about getting there and they're rushing you in
and you think you the plans change at the last minute.
You think you're interviewing him after the rally, they rush
you in. You're like, oh my goodness, are we going
to interview him now? But you have this rare few
(03:32):
minutes to just talk to him. And that, to me
is the behind the scenes that so many people will
never know. If you don't read this book, is that
you get to walk in there and see him just
moments before he is shot, and he talks to you
and he's so welcoming, he's so warm, and he's so
excited for the people, and he talks about what you think.
(03:56):
He's also very inquisitive about how you feel about things
throughout the whole book book.
Speaker 2 (04:00):
Every time you talk to him, you.
Speaker 1 (04:02):
See this side of the president that some of us know,
that most people don't believe is real, and you capture
it so beautifully in this book, not only that day,
but when he returns to Butler. And I think that
when you talk about the return to Butler, that part
of the book to me was even more powerful because
he's so concerned with Corey's family, the firefighter who died,
(04:26):
and you talk about how there's a true weight on
him that someone was lost, And I knew that was
how he felt, but to see how you captured it
in words was incredible.
Speaker 4 (04:40):
Yeah, We've had several very powerful conversations about Butler about
what happened that day, about face. You know that you
read the book and his real sort of awakening to
the mean hand was on me.
Speaker 2 (04:58):
That was powerful.
Speaker 5 (05:00):
Yeah, the hand of God when he said that. You know,
he said that to me the day after the shooting.
This is in the book. I'll give people a little
a little window into it. But he calls me early
the next morning, and before I even say hello, he says,
(05:20):
this is Donald Trump, Like I don't know, it's Donald.
Speaker 4 (05:22):
Trump, right, And the first thing he asks is, how
are you, Selena? How is your daughter and your son
in law? Because my daughter is a photo journalist. She
is often with me in the field covering just everyday events,
let alone a big interview like this. And we dragged
(05:46):
my son in law along with us for a complete
vanity reason. Right, there's gonna be one hundred and one
degrees that day, and it was, and we thought, well,
we'll make him carry all the equipment so we look
nice and you know, crisp and clean. That did not happen.
I mean, he carried everything, but we did not look
(06:07):
crisp and cream.
Speaker 5 (06:08):
We were sweaty, and you know, I have Italian hair.
Speaker 6 (06:13):
It was.
Speaker 4 (06:15):
There's this famous scene in the Friends show where Monica
says it's the humidity because her hair got really big.
Speaker 5 (06:22):
And I always feel like I have to say I
have to make an excuse for my hair, right, but
you know so, so he called and he said are
you okay? And I did something that I rarely do, No,
I've never done with the President.
Speaker 4 (06:38):
I swore I.
Speaker 6 (06:40):
Did say, are you kidding me?
Speaker 5 (06:43):
You were the one that was shot, not me, But
that empathy and compassion and concern was the first thing
out of his mouth.
Speaker 6 (06:51):
And people will.
Speaker 5 (06:53):
Find out that moment will come to life in a minute, bigger,
more profound way later in those conversations that day.
Speaker 6 (07:03):
He called me seven times that day.
Speaker 5 (07:05):
When he talks about people think that that President Trump
said a fight, fight, fight for a vanity reason, right,
like for a photo off. There is a very deep
and profound reason why he says that.
Speaker 6 (07:18):
And I can't wait.
Speaker 5 (07:19):
Till people read about that, because it was It even
took my breath away that that in that moment, you know,
you don't know how you're going to act in a
moment of crisis and in a moment of being shot
at right.
Speaker 1 (07:34):
Right exactly, That's what I've always said. You can't plan
for that.
Speaker 5 (07:39):
No, we don't sit down in ho at home and go, well,
if I'm shot, this is what I'm going to do, right,
but but you know, the way the kids thought process
and why he did that, I think.
Speaker 6 (07:50):
Is going to low people's It's really powerful.
Speaker 1 (07:54):
And even even getting to see it from your perspective
is incredibly powerful because you were right so many of us.
I mean, I think probably the entire world has watched
that moment on TV. You hear the shots, you see
him grab his ear, you see him stand back up.
So many people have seen what happened on TV. But
(08:14):
you were right there.
Speaker 2 (08:16):
It's almost like, I mean, that's a god thing too.
Speaker 1 (08:18):
You were placed there because you're the storyteller and you
tell the stories so beautifully. And I mean just from
this from not only what you see as you go down,
you're being held down on the ground too. That I
also found fascinating. You were immediately protected. People were talking
about you know, it was total chaos, but you have
a secret Service agent who has his hand on you.
(08:40):
He's protecting you in that moment. It's his first instinct
is to make sure the people around him are safe.
But just the sounds that you hear, the I mean,
the way you describe the cheers and then the blood
curdling scream and all of the things that happened.
Speaker 2 (08:56):
It was as I'm.
Speaker 1 (08:57):
Reading the book. It takes you into that moment so perfectly.
I have to tell you, and I'm tearing up, you know,
I'm reading this and I'm like, gosh, you were there.
You saw you could see that you had a bird's
eye view of the president.
Speaker 6 (09:12):
Yeah, it was only a few feet away.
Speaker 5 (09:14):
And actually the person who so I when the first
four shots went off, I'm a gun owner. I knew
exactly what it was. I didn't get down. I don't
know what that is in me that happened. But I
just like, have a job to do and I'm gonna
do it. And and the second four shots go off
(09:35):
and four, yeah, it felt like four. And I could
still hear them in my head. The guy who took
me down, he wasn't a secret service agent. He was
the campaign's press leap. Oh, this young man, you know,
in his late twenties, just was so brave and so
(10:00):
detective just took me down on the ground and laid
on top of me until he knew everything was all clear.
And just his comportment, his composure, his professionalism, but also
his compassion in that moment. That young man, to me
is someone that is also a gift from God. He
(10:24):
is an angel because he really responded. You know, some
people step up in a moment. He didn't have to
do that.
Speaker 6 (10:31):
I was a reporter, he's a press a.
Speaker 5 (10:34):
You know, you want to protect yourself, right, There was
no reason for him to make the decisions that he did,
and yet he did.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
Let's take a quick commercial break. We'll continue next on
the Tutor Dixon Podcast. And as I'm reading this, I'm like,
all of these people they came together. There was nobody
who ran. That was the other fascinating thing. It wasn't
total chaos. And that young man he could have bolted.
(11:03):
All of these people could have just been running scattered.
But even and that was a conversation that you had
with the president too. Even he was like, you know,
the people, they didn't freak out, they didn't run.
Speaker 5 (11:14):
Yeah, you know, it has part part and part a
large part has to do with just the mindset of
the people that attended Trump rally.
Speaker 6 (11:24):
You know, there have been.
Speaker 5 (11:25):
All sorts of horrible stories written about what journalists and
I'm I'm a journalist, but what journalists think Trump.
Speaker 6 (11:37):
Supporters are right, all sorts.
Speaker 5 (11:40):
Of derogatory comments thrown their way, violent, racist, whatever, you know,
whatever is for they want to use, however, has never
been I've been to dozens and dozens of them covering
them as a reporter, and that has never been my experience.
My experience has always been it's like a Jimmy Buffett concert.
Speaker 6 (12:02):
Right, except the people trade in parrot.
Speaker 5 (12:05):
Hats and and and and Hawaiian shirts for patriotic gear.
People are believe they're part of something bigger than self.
There with people there to celebrate and and so you know,
you take that mindset and and you you place it
(12:25):
in a in a in a very horrific scenario. And
the response, while it was surprising in the moment, as
you're more reflective, you understand, well, of course that's how
they behave well. Of course, people were taking care of
each other, of course, no one can. Much of that
(12:46):
had to do with how the president handled when he
was shot and getting up and showing strength, but a
lot of it just had to do with these people
that are part of something bigger than self, and and
and so when people left the.
Speaker 6 (13:06):
Farm show complex, which is like a huge farm field.
Speaker 5 (13:09):
Basically they just left very orderly, They were very quiet.
I was held in the back for over an hour
before they let me and several other photo journalists and
my daughter and my son in law out. I think
they thought we were injured. I mean, most people who
saw that sort of iconic photo because it was on
(13:31):
the front.
Speaker 6 (13:31):
Pages of a lot of papers the day.
Speaker 5 (13:33):
After with Michelle McCard the campaign on top of me.
All you see are my legs in my booth, my boots.
Thank god, I wore a score that day. I'm just saying,
thank goodness I had to wearwithal because my legs were
all up in the air. But people recognized me because
(13:55):
I always wear cowboy booths everywhere with a skirt dressed
gown my daughter's wedding, I always have cowboy So there
were a lot of people that thought I had died,
you know, including members of my own family wow, because
of that photo. But but I'm getting ahead of myself,
(14:15):
as when we came out, there was nothing left in
the farm field, right.
Speaker 6 (14:21):
Everybody had exited.
Speaker 5 (14:23):
Everybody had exited very quietly, and there's that sort of
beautiful crane with the American flag is still flowing.
Speaker 6 (14:33):
It was very powerful to see that there were water
bottles all over the place.
Speaker 5 (14:40):
The garbage cans had become overflown, and you know, people
just drop them to get out there. And there was
a wheelchair in the middle of the farm field, but
yet there was no panic. And we get over the
hill to where they had the parking area and nobody
had left because they didn't let anybody leave. This I
saw the most miraculous thing. People were out of their cars,
(15:03):
they were talking, they were hugging, they were sharing food,
they were sharing water, and it was you know, and
I talked to other journalists that cover the that day
and they said they never saw anything like it. You know,
there was just this calmness that was really something to
be admired in that moment.
Speaker 1 (15:27):
Even when you talk about going back and sitting with
in that hour that you're sitting with the other journalists
back there, just the emotion that you go through and
that you talk about that's in that room in the moment,
and it's so real and it's so raw, and it
really I love the way it takes us into this
glimpse that none of us would have seen.
Speaker 2 (15:48):
But then that's not it.
Speaker 1 (15:50):
I want people to know that the book is so
much there's so much more depth than that, because you
take us through the campaign, then you kind of bring
us full circle back to but.
Speaker 2 (16:00):
And you take us through all of the other things.
You take us through Puerto Rico, and you talked about
the reporters.
Speaker 1 (16:07):
That want to attack the president on a regular basis
and say he's racist, and that this was the moment
that they thought, Okay, we've got him. Now we're going
to raise Kama up and this is it for him.
Speaker 2 (16:18):
But the whole time, you.
Speaker 1 (16:19):
Knew there's like this understanding inside of you. And I
think it was what you said at the beginning that
you knew the people. You knew the dedication of the
people who wanted to see the country preserved, and they
believed that Donald Trump is the person to do that.
And I think he's proven that he is restoring the country. Mean,
(16:40):
we don't have border crossings anymore, we don't have all
of this chaos in the world. Donald Trump is truly
a man of the people. But you also take us
through something that I think is so important because of
what we're seeing in New York right now. And I
want to kind of dive deep into this because we
see Mom, Donnie, and he is this man of a
(17:01):
million faces. I don't know if any if you've ever
watched Game of Thrones, there's this way to put it. Yeah,
there's this there's this scene in Game of Thrones, and
I don't know if you've ever watched it, but it's
like the faceless man and they can become anyone. And
that's that is like, this is literally an evil character
in a television show that can become anyone. And that's
(17:23):
who I see Mom Donnie being. However, I think that
the play is off of who Donald Trump truly is,
but he's not trying to play. And that's what you
capture so well. Is he goes into McDonald's and you
talk about how there's a joy and people go, man,
there's a joy people enjoy seeing someone say I want
(17:44):
to be with you, guys. It's not that he's impersonating someone.
He wants to be with the people. You capture that
so well, and I think that's what the Democrat Party
is trying to to steal.
Speaker 2 (17:57):
But they're using actors.
Speaker 5 (17:59):
Yeah, you know, President Trump. I remember the first time
I interviewed him and thinking, Okay, this is the public
perception of him. He's this three time married playboy dating
Howard Stern regular who you know who has constructed you know,
(18:20):
lives in a gold high rise in Tower Trump Tower
in New York. Right, that's the construct that that people
are are handed. Right, he's not going to have a
connection to the working class. That it's all a mirage.
So I sit down with him in Pittsburgh in September
(18:43):
of twenty sixteen, and we're at a shale conference. This
is Marcella Shale. It's just starting to it's sort of
in its sixth year. It's really starting to boom because
shale hadn't been discovered in Pennsylvania until I think two
thousand and nine, twenty ten, right, so this is just
taking off. And at this convention are all of these
(19:04):
what I call suits, right, these wealthy they're not bad people,
they're just you know, sort of wealthy and successful, and
you know, and they want a piece of him, right,
they want to talk to them. And then there's the
guys and girls that work in the oil fields, right,
they're there too. And then there are the people that
(19:25):
are working the event. Right, they're the ones behind the
curt the janitors, the people, the caterers, the electricians, the plumbers, right,
they're all moving around they're all moving parts behind the scene.
Speaker 6 (19:40):
They're what makes the convention happen, right, they.
Speaker 5 (19:43):
Are what makes everything look beautiful on the other side
of the curt So President Trump and I sit down
and we do the interview. It's in that interview that
I say to him, you know, sir, it's been my
experience that voters take you seriously, but they don't take
everything you say literally, whereas my profession takes you literally.
(20:08):
They don't take you all that seriously. And he thought
about that, and he goes, oh, that's a really interesting way
to look at it.
Speaker 6 (20:15):
And so after the interview, he says, come on, let's
go take a walk.
Speaker 5 (20:20):
And I'm like, okay, mind you, this is the first
time I've ever met him. So we leave what was
a curtain dop area called the green room, and we
start walking through.
Speaker 6 (20:32):
The back of the convention hall.
Speaker 5 (20:34):
That's where all the regular people are, right, the janitors,
the plumbers, the caterers, the people pushing around carts of water.
And he just starts going up and talking to them.
No cameras are there, right, it's you know, all on background.
It's not on the record. And so he's not getting
(20:55):
anything from this, right, this is not a performance.
Speaker 6 (20:59):
And he starts to talking back and forth with them
about their lives. What do you do, why do you
do it? How many you know?
Speaker 5 (21:05):
Are you married, did you go to college? How long
has your family lived in your neighborhood? That kind of thing, right,
the normal kinds of things you have have when you
have a conversation with someone that you just met. And
it was in that moment that I understood him. That
what his two superpowers are. That is his curiosity about
(21:29):
people's lives. That's a sense of humanity that most politicians
do not possess. They wish they did, They try to bag,
but they don't possess. If you've ever had a conversation
with a politician, seven times out of ten, if you're lucky,
they don't look past you while you're talking, right, they
(21:51):
look at you Trump. That's one of Trump's superpowers. He
never takes his eyes off of you when he's talking
to you. He doesn't look away, he doesn't look past you.
He looks at he looks he's he's in the moment
with you. Uh. And the other superpower is, you know,
this is a guy from the outer borough. He's not
from Manhattan. Right. And so there's this this sort of
(22:16):
layers of elitism in New York where if you're from
the outskirts, the outer borough, right, you're not part of
the club.
Speaker 6 (22:24):
Your all your new money, you're not old money.
Speaker 5 (22:27):
And and he spent a lot of his life and
coming up in the business of building in real estate,
working with the men and women that bake stuff. So
his connective tissue is and this is the thing that
my profession really missed, is his connective tissue is for the.
Speaker 6 (22:46):
Everyman, is with the everyman, and it's genuine.
Speaker 5 (22:50):
His connective tissue isn't with the people that that were
from Manhattan, that were from Park Avenue.
Speaker 6 (22:57):
Ye, he got there, but just like the rest of.
Speaker 5 (23:00):
The people who want to earn their way up in life,
you know, he never forgot the people that made that
made his success possible.
Speaker 1 (23:10):
I think what you're saying right now is so critical
because there is a huge difference between a Donald Trump
and a JD.
Speaker 2 (23:17):
Pritzker.
Speaker 1 (23:18):
JD. Pritzker is a he's a born billionaire. He has
had a silver spoon in his mouth. He has no connection.
And I've seen this across many different areas of my life.
When you meet somebody who built their own wealth as
opposed to somebody who has always grown up with wealth.
There is a huge difference in the way they connect
(23:39):
to humanity. I mean, they just have had a different life,
They've had different experiences, They've had to fight for what
they have. And I think that that instant reaction of fight, fight, fight,
keep going was really what he was saying, don't.
Speaker 2 (23:53):
Let this stop.
Speaker 1 (23:55):
I think that's because inside of him, he's always been building,
always been building.
Speaker 5 (24:01):
I have, I've been around, I've been in the field
a long time.
Speaker 6 (24:08):
I approach.
Speaker 5 (24:10):
Journalism and covering politics and culture, and you know, those
two overlap in so many ways, in a very different way,
but it's a way that used to be the standard.
So I don't fly, not because I'm afraid to. I
fall asleep as soon as I get on a plane,
so you know, you can throw the fear thing out.
(24:31):
But I don't fly because I would miss so much
of what happens between point A and point B. I
also don't take interstates. I only take back rows because
if you take an interstate, you may as well fly,
because you know, the only place you stop is like
at an interchange, and it's the same gas station and
(24:54):
the same.
Speaker 6 (24:55):
Foods place, and you know, Strip Mall, and then you're
back on and you really don't under the understand the
depths of what's happening in the country, what places are
doing good, what places are not doing good?
Speaker 5 (25:09):
Why, how you know? And you don't learn about the
resiliency of the American people if you're on an airplane.
So you know, I take the reader back a little
bit so that they understand why President Trump picks showing up.
Speaker 6 (25:28):
In places like Butler.
Speaker 5 (25:31):
Right, If anybody's old enough to remember the song Allentown,
there was a Billy Joel song and it's very sort
of mournful and nostalgic about the decay of this hometown
because the loss of manufacturing and then the trick will
effect it had on churches and neighborhoods. Right. And there
(25:55):
were people when that song came out all across the
country that sang along with They'd never even been to Allentown.
But it's because Allentown represented so many places across the country.
It became a cultural touchdown. And that's what places like
East Palestine are. Yeah, that's what places like Butler are.
(26:18):
There's only been two presidents that have ever campaigned for
election for president in the entirety of our country in Butler,
and that was JFK and Donald Trump.
Speaker 2 (26:31):
Let's take a quick commercial break. We'll continue next on
the Tutor Dixon Podcast.
Speaker 1 (26:39):
The fact that you bring up that there were two
attempted assassinations on presidents there was fascinating.
Speaker 5 (26:47):
Yeah, so President Trump, it is not the only president
to have been shot at right by their ear.
Speaker 6 (26:56):
In Butler. George Washington won. This was well and I
won't give too much away, but.
Speaker 5 (27:04):
I think what is important about understanding two presidents, two
presidents of consequence right, like the country will look incredibly
different had they not been president.
Speaker 1 (27:20):
Maybe that journey you take us on, Honestly, that is
worth going into this book and reading it because it
just the way you take us through that journey, and
then the reaction of President Trump when you talk to him,
it brings it all together in such a powerful way.
Speaker 2 (27:37):
I really appreciated that.
Speaker 6 (27:40):
Thank you so much.
Speaker 5 (27:42):
I think I hope, I hope that people understand that
this book isn't just about Butler, although that is a
pivotable and powerful moment, but it's also a story and
a journey through America and I'm up in Michigan in
the story too.
Speaker 6 (28:00):
As well as in Wisconsin.
Speaker 5 (28:01):
Uh these I usually cover Appalachia and the Great Lakes Midwest.
It's about place and how place dominates how we vote,
and it is an emotion and and a gravital pull
to our rootedness that most political strategists don't even know
(28:24):
how to understand it. Yeah, President Trump was very very
good in understanding the nuance and and the and the
and the fabric of why place impacts people's votes. It's
it's why people did not understand why the working class
voting for President Trump wasn't just going to be white,
(28:47):
it was also Hispanic and black and Asian in a
massive way, because the Democrats kept putting people in silos
and trying to connect them.
Speaker 6 (29:00):
From each other.
Speaker 5 (29:02):
Right, that's so true, That's not what was happening in
this country. You know, working class voters, Black, White, Hispanic, Asian,
they voted shoulder to shoulder with their community because of place,
because of how tired they are to each other, to.
Speaker 6 (29:19):
A community and to family.
Speaker 5 (29:21):
And the Democrats completely did not understand that, and in
a breathtaking way. And so I take the voters in
I mean, I take the readers inside those moments and
inside those families' lives, so they have a better understanding
of what is happening in our country.
Speaker 1 (29:42):
So much though, so I will tell people it comes
up out on July eighth. It is called Butler, The
Untold Story of the near Assassination of Donald Trump and
the Fight for America's Heartland. You read this book, it's
going to be more than Butler. Like I said before,
you're going to meet intimately meet characters that you hear
about every day. Susie Wiles an amazing woman. You're going
(30:03):
to meet her in this book. Chris las Avita, even
Elon Musk, all of these characters come through and you
and you can tell throughout this book that the President
has this incredible belief in you, Selena, this incredible trust
in you. And that's why this is so much more
than a book.
Speaker 2 (30:22):
It's history.
Speaker 1 (30:23):
It is going to be impactful for generations to come.
So I want to thank you today. Is there anything
you want to tell people about where they can get it?
Speaker 6 (30:31):
Oh, you can just.
Speaker 5 (30:31):
Get it on Amazon or at your local bookstore. I hope,
I hope people enjoy it. If you do read it
and you liked it. Please, you know, comment on Twitter.
It's at Zito, Selena. I'd love to hear from you.
I'd love to hear what your thoughts were about it.
Speaker 1 (30:50):
I mean, it's great and at the very least, you
have an amazing picture that you get to put on
a coffee table. That picture she did, I love it.
That's what we were talking about this morning. We're like,
I mean, this is a great book to have about.
Speaker 5 (31:02):
Yeah. J took that as so as we were, and
readers will find out. We're in the We're in the
back with him before he goes out, and he has
this running joke and you read it in the book
and he always says, Hey, Selene, you want to go
out on the stage with me.
Speaker 1 (31:20):
I'm like no, But that's what I mean. There's this
trust between the two of you. There's a genuine he
cares and that's what It's not just you, that's how
he feels about people. You capture it so well and
I just so appreciate it. It's been such a great conversation.
Selena Zito. Please check her out. Check out this book.
Speaker 2 (31:41):
It's amazing.
Speaker 1 (31:42):
Thank you and thank you all for joining us on
the Tutor Dixon Podcast.
Speaker 2 (31:46):
For more, you can go to Tutor Dixon podcast dot.
Speaker 1 (31:48):
Com, iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Also,
you can watch us on Rumble and YouTube at tutor Dixon.
But make sure you join us next time and have
a blessed day.
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