Kent Emmons Launches “CRAVE NEWS ~ JUST THE FACTS ~ NO BS!”

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Gene Valentino: Hi friends. Gene Valentino [00:01:00] and welcome to another episode of Gene Valentino’s Grassroots Truthcast. I get a chance to bring in friends from all walks of life and the guy with me today. Is the Honorable Kent Emmons, somewhere out of Tennessee and somewhere in the, in the beautiful home he has in the hills outside of Nashville.

And, uh, Kent is, um, Kent’s an interesting guy. He’s, um, he’s, it’s a radio background with, uh, ownership. radio stations over his years, but he always, like me, took a liking to some of the programming content and participation in that content, uh, as we’re doing here on Grassroots Truthcast. Welcome aboard, Kent.

Kent Emmons: Brother Gene, great to be with you. How, how are things down in Escambia County, Florida? I love that, by the way, my, one of my favorite parts of Florida.

Gene Valentino: It is, it is the panhandle. We have a saying down here. [00:02:00] It’s the, uh, Western gate to the sunshine state where thousands lived the way millions wish they could.

Kent Emmons: And you know, it’s so true. And of course, as you know, you know, I spent a ton of time down there in your half of the floor, Alabama, there’s a, there’s a great venue down there called the floor of Amethyst stretches across the Alabama, Florida state line. And half of that venue is in your County. Uh, and I love it, and, uh, it’s interesting too, politically, two legends that come from the panhandle.

You have Matt Gaetz, and you’ve got Gene Valentino, who, you are a star. And you are a legendary county commissioner down there. And I got to tell you, it’s a, it’s an honor to be here with you. Well,

Gene Valentino: thank you, sir. In fact, the, the, the floor Bama you mentioned owned by, um, the original owners, uh, Joe Gilchrist and, um, Joe and Pat, Pat McClellan.

Yeah, they, um, they were the founders of that wonderful operation, which morphed over the years. And I was proud to be their county commissioner there in the, [00:03:00] in the panhandle of Florida, starting right there from the Alabama border, right border and going 18 to 20 miles eastbound toward the center of Pensacola.

Um, the panhandle is the western gate right out here and uh, it is truly a different culture, a different way of life, I’d say a different um, retirement, a different type of vacationing here as well. They call it the last frontier of Caribbean soil. On America, in America, the sands were, are still so bleach white.

I actually, when I moved here from Connecticut 32 years ago, I, I actually saw the wind driven sand moving across the road. I thought it was snow for a second. My, my brain was playing tricks on me. It’s, it was so powdery white. I couldn’t believe it. Uh, but you know, we had the BP oil crisis in about, uh, 2006, 2008.

[00:04:00] And it was a sad time where the stain on a lot of those, um, beautiful quartz white, uh, bleached white sands were tarnished. Admittedly, it’s washed and improved over the decade, but there’s still some remnants that exist from an unfortunate oil spill. You know, it’s, to me, it’s

Kent Emmons: still one of the most beautiful parts of our country.

And, uh, of course, they call it the Redneck Riviera. That’s all about me. I mean, my Southern Illinois roots, my Tennessee, you know, I’ve split my time for 35 years, you know, between Tennessee and Southern California. That’s why the Floribama has always been home to me. I love it. It’s the greatest. Well, tell me,

Gene Valentino: uh, tell us what has happened in your life.

Let’s do the quick bio first. How is it you ended up in radio broadcasting and where is it taking you to, to today?

Kent Emmons: I was managing rock bands and build a little music publishing company. And, uh, you know, of course, in doing that, you know, back in the day when you could actually break a record at the radio [00:05:00] station level, spent a lot of times in radio stations.

And as a kid, um, was, uh, was a little tiny kid. We had a, uh, story hour on, on the radio station, our local radio station, WVMC owned by. Great broadcasters, the Hurlbut family out of Southern Illinois. Uh, amazing broadcasters, the father and the son, both. Uh, John was the dad, Dave was the son, great folks, and they were, they were the ultimate community radio kind of folks.

I mean, these were folks who, you know, they, they, the community was everything with their station. So we had, um, story hour with our librarian, Ruth Lingelson, and so I would go out to the radio station, you know, every other week or so, and, uh, she would read a story, we would talk about it, and I just kind of fell in love with it, never dreaming that I would own quite a few stations myself.

So. But, um, you know, I did. I, I, uh, 1991 bought my first radio station and it was a very unique format. It was the vacation format. So it started in Branson, Missouri, then Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, then [00:06:00] Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and kind of went on from there. Um, very well, did extremely well with those stations.

And what was interesting about it is we found in that programming that comedy was a big part of it. People love the information about, you know, the tourist information. For the markets. And of course we made it sound live and. Fun and interesting and trivia and, you know, interviewing the stars of Branson or the stars of Pigeon Forge and that kind of thing.

But, uh, comedy, we ran these comedy bits and people loved it. They ate it up. And I kind of felt like there ought to be a 24 seven comedy radio network. You got rock country talk. I mean, you got everything classical. Why 24 seven comedy? And I figured it out quickly with my, my attorney, my best buddy and attorney, Howard Levine in Los Angeles.

Brightest, brightest attorney on the planet. He said, I figured it out. He goes, it’s a licensing thing. You know, when you own a music station, you can go to ASCAP, BMI, SESAC, uh, and you can do a license. So it’s a blanket license that has every song in the world [00:07:00] registered under it. And they monitor the stations and they pay the royalties out and you pay a little tiny, you know, fee, a part of your gross royalties.

Well, there wasn’t that mechanism for spoken word. So no one had ever done it. So we’ve, we cracked the code on it. We did it. We started the first, uh, 24, seven comedy, the first and only. comedy radio format. And it out into a, you know, And where was, where was at the time? Uh, the netw of Los Angeles. Our first a marina del re playa del if people are familiar wi of Los Angeles County, it We actually had a 55, 000 square foot warehouse down in Playa Del Rey before anything was down there.

Uh, there was us. There was a bunch of office warehouse kind of things, old, you know, kind of old buildings like ours was, uh, and a Home Depot. And that was it. We were pretty much in on Jefferson [00:08:00] Avenue. Now it’s packed and crazy and wild. And then we eventually moved our studios. Uh, you know, once we started, uh, evolving, we moved our studios up onto Sunset Avenue or Sunset Boulevard.

Gene Valentino: Folks, we’re talking with Kent Emmons, and he’s got a very interesting radio, television, broadcast background, which it ties into how we’ve met, uh, the folks I’m dealing with, and the production of these shows, uh, out of Nashville also, coincidentally, introduced me to Kent, only to find out that Kent’s in the process of putting together an interesting network of his own.

I would call it the next generation. I know you, you see a void the way I do, uh, Kent in the audience of, let’s say, between 18 and 49 years of age, the Gen X, Y, and Z crowd. There’s a lot of them falling by the wayside. Um, for several reasons you can address, uh, uh, not to mention AI and [00:09:00] the overuse of the phone, but, um, what’s going on with this new concept you’ve created?

Kent Emmons: Well, it’s actually, it’s a news format is what it is. So there’s a massive void in the news space. You know, you take a look at, uh, Fox news. The average age is 68 years old, hence the, you know, commercials for catheters, walk in tubs, you know, reverse mortgages, all, all the, all the things you think about when you think about fun, right?

And, uh, although that catheter commercial has always been a mystery to me, those guys seem to be having a blast with their catheters. I may buy some just so I can golf all day and, and fly my airplane, you know, that kind of stuff, right? That’s, that’s how I learned to sing soprano. I think you may have been using them wrong, but anyway, so I don’t, I don’t think they go that far in Gene.

I hope not anyway. Well, they don’t have to, to get me to sing soprano. But, but you know, there’s, there’s a massive void there. Whether it be right leaning, left leaning, doesn’t make that much difference. Uh, there’s a huge void. [00:10:00] And then you’ve also got these news networks are very, very subservient to the advertisers.

Hence, think about, you know, most recently, um, uh, the, uh, the COVID, uh, the scandemic, I mean, you literally, you think about that, um, it makes no difference what side, we’ll say the vaccine issue, for instance, makes no difference what side of it you’re on. As long as you have all the information. Like, I spend a lot of time, I tend to be, of course, right of center, but I spend a lot of time listening to left of center news, because I want to hear every single side.

And again, you don’t, you don’t hear anything, uh, that hasn’t been whitewashed by big corporations who are the advertisers. But I feel like there’s a market out there. You’ve got a tremendous amount of audience out there, unserved, that are in that 18 to 54 year old realm. And they want edgy. They want real, they want authentic, they want live conversation.

They want to be able to call in, FaceTime in, and they want news at the top of the hour and news at the bottom of the hour. And when we were looking at [00:11:00] doing this. You know, we looked at the audiences of, of Fox News, of, you know, CNN, MSNBC, and then some of the smaller, you know, uh, players. Um, you know, the audiences, frankly, they’re not that big.

I mean, Joe Rogan, who I just love, has got a bigger audience than, than all the news networks combined. Now, that’s pretty wild when you think about that, right? Now think about that. That’s a good point. And by the way, when you hear a conversation on Joe’s show, there’s no bullshit there. It’s just real, you know, it’s, it’s real conversation.

And with our news network, you know what our tagline is. It’s Grave News, Real News, No Bullshit. And it’s kind of funny how that tagline came along. When we were out talking to people, we said, what are you looking for in news? And people said that line verbatim, separately, not coordinated. And I thought, wow, I love the line, but that may be just a little bit harsh.

So I ran it past a bunch of friends of mine. I said, here are the top five [00:12:00] taglines we’re looking at. Literally nine out of 10 came back, real news, no bullshit. So then I thought, you know what? I’m going to preacher test this thing. And as you know, I know a lot of preachers and I gave it to, gave it to a buddy of mine, Baptist preacher.

And I said, look, you got a, you got a huge posse. He’s a leader of a group. I said, you’ve got a huge posse. I said, here are five taglines we’re looking at for the news. I said, would you just run a survey, see what you think? Guess what it came back at? The one you said, Real News, No Bullshit. That is correct.

And by the way, not only overwhelmingly, same thing, uh, nine, 10 to one. So it was literally, you know, nine folks, Real News, No Bullshit, one, I think one was, uh, uh, Beyond Disruptive was the other one, but literally 90%. So it’s preacher tested, ready to rock and roll. And it’s going to be news like you’ve never seen it before.

We’ve been working on it for a long time. We got interrupted by the COVID, [00:13:00] uh, uh, thing because our original studios were in our studios in Los Angeles. So we, uh, we have moved it to the good free state of Nashville, Tennessee. Here in the big city of Nashville and, uh, about ready to launch.

Gene Valentino: Okay. He’s, we’re talking with Kent Emmons and he’s more than just, um, a business entrepreneur.

He’s come up with this new concept. He’s just described Crave News. Let’s take a peek at one of his promo pieces right now and we’ll segue right back after this.

Speaker 2: Hi folks, Kent Emmons here, founder and CEO of Crave News. We all know that the 2024 election will be decided by the independent minded 18 to 54 year old voters, a massive audience that has totally been left out of the real news cycle. Currently, the right leaning news outlets are programmed to a much older audience, and with the nutty propaganda that the left wing networks try to pass as news, it’s no wonder that we have a demented corpse in the White House, Kabbalah Harris and Adam Schiff are hailed as heroes, And the younger crowd actually thinks there are [00:14:00] 73 genders.

There’s a big market for a news network that targets a younger audience by serving up real news in a way that’s raw, edgy, and unfiltered. Crave News is about to launch and this is your opportunity to become a founding shareholder. Get ready to write down this number and I’ll text you a link to more information.

Become a founding shareholder in Crave News and own a piece of the next generation of news. Call 615 819 5535. That’s 615 819 5535. Crave News. Real News. No B. S.

Gene Valentino: and welcome back to Gene Valentino’s Grassroots Truthcast. That was a nice segment, uh, Kent, with, uh, you, uh, promoting this new concept, uh, Real News, No Bullshit. To the point, factual, uh, opinions, yes, but opinions based on fact, not vitriol. I find that to be more, uh, of a distinction, uh, that we see when people are trying to give opinions today on [00:15:00] various media and media outlets.

It, it is often, um, mixed and distorted by anger and hostility And the message of objectivity falls by the wayside. Not so with Crave News,

Kent Emmons: right? Well, news should never be distinguished by is it right or is it left. It should just be the truth. And you can discuss the truth and everybody’s going to have their opinion.

But you know, you take a look at Fox News and God love them. I’ve spent a lot of time on the, on, on Fox and Newsmax and the various ones like that. Great, great. And, and Real America’s Voice, I find to be a wonderful one as well. However, um, you take a look at it, it’s, uh, You know, it goes right to opinion.

And they ought to be, it ought to be set of Fox news. It should be Fox entertainment. I mean, if you’re spewing that much opinion, it ought to just be where we’re here to entertain you. Yeah, at least. So with us, we’re gonna be doing head news at the top of the line, at the top of the hour headlines at the bottom of the hour.

Uh, [00:16:00] just read as, as the facts as we know ’em. Now, we’ll have a lot of hot talk around the edges of that, you know, with filling re, you know, filling out the rest of the hour, but. You know, news literally should be just the facts as we know them. Then we can discuss those facts and we can have a lot of fun doing it.

That’s why I think you take a look at Rogan, Patrick, Bet David, people like that. Um, they’re not in the news space, but they’re in the, in the space of discussing the issues, uh, in a way that is, uh, you know, you’re catching all sides of it. And it’s not just, you know, one way of thinking. Yeah. And

Gene Valentino: that’s, that’s absolutely brilliant because You’re looking at who’s listening to the Joe Rogans of the world.

It’s that 18 to 40 something year old crowd, and uh, they don’t want a lot of hyperbole and anger. They want the facts to the point, and it’s this impatience today. Hit me hard, hit me fast, get to the point, and I want to move on. [00:17:00] And I see that as being part of the, the base, the format of what you’re trying to create here on Krave News.

Kent Emmons: Yeah, and it’s really fun too, because it’s a bunch of my friends that, you know, uh, with, with a few bucks, we got together, put, you know, uh, several bucks together. Plus then we opened up, as you know, we opened up the offering to, you know, smaller investors who never get the chance to go into something like that.

So we’ve, you know, it’s, it’s really news of the people, by the people and for the people. And, uh All right, so

Gene Valentino: you’re, you’re at the point now of, uh, the concept is obviously in place, but the, um, fundraising is underway for the opening of the network, and how will Crave News, uh, present itself to the world?

In what, in

Kent Emmons: what platform? So it’ll be on all the digital platforms. The only thing I have no interest in is cable. Uh, nobody under 50 has cable. Uh, uh, and it’s just, there’s no reason to be on cable and I’ve spent years, you know, having to operate cable stuff and deal with cable companies and that type of thing, and I [00:18:00] just, You know, the audience is not there anymore.

It’s all digital. You take a look at any of the relevant media players and it’s all digital. So it’s, you know, it’s, um, uh, all the OTTs, which are like Roku and that type of thing. It’s the fast channels, which are like Pluto stir those, those type of channels. And I think, I think we’re up to like 31 outlets.

We’ll be on. So there’s no way you won’t be able to watch this on your cell phone, on your computer, on your TV at home, on your smart TV, very simple. One, you know, one button you’re in your, and you’re talking with us. Boy,

Gene Valentino: do you remember the days? It was just yesterday when we were looking at the old fashioned TV, black and white with the rabbit ears on top.

The, the, the, the, the device was then a big change. It went color. Oh my words. Not only did it go color, then this new concept of cable came out. So you had more than the ABC, NBC, CBS networks and maybe a major station in the area, but you had maybe three, four, five key [00:19:00] channels in your programming. Today, you’ve got hundreds, if not thousands of programming shows at your disposal through any of these major streaming platforms.

It’s good to hear you’re going to be on all of them or most of them for the purpose of, uh, uh, of Reaching the Audience. The audience has changed. It’s looking at entertainment differently. It’s looking at news differently as well. But

Kent Emmons: I think that the audience wants authenticity. They want authentic. And, you know, you take a look at how the real journalists, I mean, you’ve got everyone from mainstream media to government agencies that are actually coming at and attacking real journalists.

I mean, of course, thank God we’ve got the James O’Keefe’s of the world and people like that. But it’s interesting how they’ve. They tried to pigeonhole him as a right wing guy. He’s like, no, he’s a teller of truth. That’s what he is. And you’ve got several like that out there. Um, you know, one of the, one of the old, um, uh, sayings, and I think it comes from a book from, uh, back in the [00:20:00] 30s or 40s or something like that, and I can’t remember who it is, but I’m going to quote it, uh, first they came, it was, it was during the Holocaust era, so 40s.

Uh, first they came for the journalists, after that, we don’t know what happened. And that’s what’s happening right now. I mean, people, they are coming after journalists. So, um, We, we feel like there is a great, great service to be laid out, uh, you know, amongst the people, uh, in the form of a news network that is literally, you know, here’s everything to consider.

You make up your mind. And, by the way, let’s have some fun doing it. Having run the Comedy Networks for years, You know, we gotta have fun doing it too. Well, I, I got a

Gene Valentino: feeling you’ll be tickling my humoroids in the process.

Kent Emmons: We’ll, we’ll be down there and we’ll come down to the panhandle and tickle your humoroids.

Gene Valentino: That

Kent Emmons: sounds a little weird, brother Geno. Yeah. Well, we’re on new ground. But we’ve [00:21:00] got a record for the record we no longer have offices in West Hollywood

Gene Valentino: That’s probably a blessing in disguise Hey, you know speaking speaking of that, you know You and I are I’m guessing near the same age and one thing for sure is we both came from a conservative bent I was it was entertaining for me to notice That, uh, at your very young years, before broadcasting, I presume, uh, you were with the young, you were head of the young Republicans, uh, group.

And so was I in the, in Connecticut, I became the head of, uh, of the young Republicans. I was pushing for the 18 year old vote. Back in 1971, I think it was, when I was just about to turn 18. And so the Republican party leaders said, well, let’s give this kid the role of pushing for the 18 year old vote because we’re heading there [00:22:00] anyway.

So they made me head of the, of the young Republicans. And in the process, we were promoting that statewide. And I come to find out and reading more about you that You were too very much involved in that.

Kent Emmons: You know, I was, it was kind of funny. So, uh, in 1972, that was the first campaign that I remember handing out cards for,

Gene Valentino: The Common Sense 80%. The Absolute Political Majority. And there it is. And where can they

Kent Emmons: find it, Kent? Uh, they can find that on Amazon, and by the way, uh, coming up this month, I think it’s this month, will be the new revised version for this election cycle, for the 2024 election cycle.

And it’s interesting, I get to go out and I get to lecture on this book, and we have a lot of fun. The book is written, Very, in a way that’s very light, very breezy and, uh, easy to understand. You know, we, we take the issues and we just break them down to common sense. And at the end of the day, uh, I’ve never had a Democrat tell me they disagree with anything in that book.

And of course the Republicans are fully on board with [00:23:00] it because it’s just. Absolute common sense.

Gene Valentino: You know, it’s funny you mentioned the distinction between Republican and Democrat. That’s what I think Crave News can help educate folks on as well is the distinction going back. I mean, we’re talking what, 40, 50, 60 years ago, my dad was a staunch Democrat and sometime prior to Reagan, he had just had, had enough.

Now, at the time we were up in Connecticut, We were New Englanders and, uh, uh, being a staunch Democrat was the majority party there then. It still is. But many folks, uh, like my dad, uh, left the Democrat party and became Republican, which proved to be more conservative. Coming south about 35 years ago to Florida myself, I learned more about the Dixie Democrat.

Now, the Dixie Democrats, Dixocrats, were the folks that were true conservatives. I [00:24:00] mean, they were real conservative folks. And, um, I think for the most part, at least in, at least, uh, amongst the newer generation, that concept is still Fallen by the wayside, the Democrats, some of the stronger Democrats, uh, Republicans today were not as conservative as the Dixie Democrats back at the time.

And, uh, as you’ve just described, that’s kind of changed completely. And, and it’s seen in the way some of the, um, some of the journalism is presenting itself, where many of the networks are falling along party lines or, uh, political. Um, you mentioned, uh, James O’Keefe earlier, uh, founder of a wonderful entity he created called Project Veritas.

Kent Emmons: He created Veritas and then, uh, has gone on now to create an amazing company. called O’Keefe Media Group, which is just, it’s, it’s, Veritas was amazing. OMG [00:25:00] has taken it to a whole nother level. He’s, you know, you have guys like James and his team, and, uh, these are, these are probably to us in these times.

The most important journalistic talents we have out there because it is real truth. I mean, they’re telling the truth. You can make up your mind whether you like it or not, but you can’t, you cannot argue the facts of the truth when you have journalists like that. And that’s with Crave News. You know, we, our idea is, and what we will be doing, is highlighting those type of journalists.

Um, we’re not investigative journalists. We’re, we’re bringing you the news on the news that the news doesn’t report. I mean, that’s really, that’s really what we’re up to.

Gene Valentino: And those guys are not defined by Democrat or Republican. I think they are true investigative journalists.

Kent Emmons: No, and you know, Gene, you and I have talked about this at length before.

Um, I remember in D. C. sitting down and having a very, very long conversation. And, you know, we were talking about, The tremendous amount of money that’s made by people pushing a far right agenda [00:26:00] or people pushing the far left agenda. And again, that 80 percent in the middle, which is actually more than 80%, you know, we’re sitting there watching these bombs getting lobbed over our heads.

Uh, in the meantime, you’ve got these nuts on both sides, raising a tremendous amount of money, scaring the heck out of people. Uh, and, uh, most of it’s nonsense. You know, we, you, at our core, Americans have a You know, conservative values. We have a, the values are, uh, it’s, you know, preserving ourself, preserving our family, growing our family, having the freedom to open a business or having a freedom to take any job or get any job that we aspire to work our way up to.

And it really is just about that. And I think when you take a look at what’s happened. You know, I feel bad for a lot of my Democratic friends, uh, because they’re kind of left without a home now that the Democratic Party has been hijacked by Looney Tunes. And it’s, you know, You know, you and I have also talked about this.

I kind of feel like it’s people that are really just very focused [00:27:00] on trying to destabilize America. And again, they always said that if America falls, it won’t be because of a hot war. It’ll be from the inside and you take a look at what’s going on and that’s, that’s exactly what’s happening.

Gene Valentino: Cuban Missile Crisis back to Kennedy and Khrushchev.

I remember Khrushchev saying, we’ll get the Americans one way or another, and it will happen because we will eat them from within. We will get them from within the border. And that’s happening today. George Soros is the popular name, but there’s other deep state players like him that are, uh, influencing media, uh, in different areas.

So what’s Crave News position when these bad actors with deep pockets come in to try to move the narrative in one direction left or one direction right? What’s your policy and how are you going to handle it?

Kent Emmons: Well, again, it’s up to us just to report the facts, just the facts. And I [00:28:00] tell you something that’s interesting is right now, I mean, you know, people talk about George Soros, who I don’t think has any business doing business in America.

I don’t think, by the way, I have many Chinese friends and I spend a lot of time in China. I don’t believe Chinese people ought to be owning land here. There’s a lot of these things that I certainly believe in my heart of hearts. However, we will report the facts as facts. Uh, not to sway opinion and let, let the people decide and, you know, take a look at Soros who does not have the best interests of our country, uh, in his heart.

Um, he’s buying, he’s now the second largest radio station group owner in the country. Uh, he’s bought into hundreds of media outlets. Uh, including Vice, which, you know, has a lot of influence over younger folks. Um, uh, and I think it’s kind of sad because again, he’s not American. Uh, he, you know, he is, he’s a globalist.

He, he wants to bring America down to the level of everybody else in America. Whether you like it or not, we are [00:29:00] the number one, or we were the number one country in the world. Sadly, China has kind of taken us over. I believe militarily and economically. When you take a look at the real numbers. But we need to be able to hold our own.

And the only way we do that is as Americans. We don’t do it as, Oh yeah, we’re going to bend to the will of this one because it’s the politically correct thing to do. No, we have to, you know, get a freaking spine. We’re Americans. Stand up and be Americans. You take a look at, you know, the, the, the dumps that our country has had just in our lifetime.

You take a look at the Jimmy Carter era, Ronald Reagan, you know, with the help of Art Laffer and people like that came in and, and, and boosted the economy and brought it back. You take a look at the dump it was in for so long. Again, Trump came, actually Bill Clinton. Bill Clinton was economically pretty darn good.

And, um, you know, I thought he did a fantastic job. And then you, with the economy, uh, and then you take a look at Trump, you know, where the economy was just, Trump was an interest. And again, I, I, as you know, I’ve spent, I had a [00:30:00] wonderful LinkedIn meeting with him last week in New York. Um, and I’m not just tooting his horn, but I’ll tell you.

If you take a look at what the economy was back then, you know, you had a booming economy. We had no conflicts going on in the world. I think Trump drove these defense contractors crazy because he wasn’t spending the money like that. He wasn’t going out there. Uh, you know, these, you know, these corrupt fiefdoms in Washington, DC were kind of freaking out because he was cutting that pipeline on a lot of that stuff.

You know, all, all politicians and bureaucrats want to do is spend money because for every dollar that goes through that pipeline, their little greasy little hands are sticking to, you know, to a lot of it. So you take it, would you, you take a look at a guy like,

Gene Valentino: yeah, I was just going to say, would you say, So, from what you just said, is Washington, D.

1. that difficult to fix? Well, if you met with Trump last week, did he comment on how difficult it’s going to be to fix Washington, D. C.? [00:31:00]

Kent Emmons: No, I think this, I think this time, and by the way, we were, we were meeting on a media matter. But, um, uh, no, I mean, I think if you take a look at it, you know, this time he’s not going to be, you know, conned into putting the, these, these crazy, uh, Uh, the word swamp has been overused, but I mean, there’s no better way to describe it.

But, you know, he kind of had forced upon him a bunch of swampers on his cabinet. And, uh, you know, with that, nothing changes. I think when you see him coming in this time, it’s gonna be a whole nother thing. And, you know, he was, he was a great leader during his last presidency. Uh, I think he will come in and lead and, and look and, and lead well, and, and pragmatically, that’s, that’s the thing that.

I think he’s probably the most misunderstood person on the planet because he is one of the kindest, nicest, deepest thinkers. Look, he’s a New York, you know, he’s a New York real estate guy. Yeah, he talks a little bit rough and he’s got the bluster and the whole thing. But at the end of the day, I mean, he is, uh, he is not a [00:32:00] crazy right winger.

He’s not a left winger. He’s a very pragmatic guy who cares deeply about this country. And he’s not a politician. I mean, at all. I mean, obviously he’s not a politician. You, you read the tweets, but I mean, uh, but he cares and loves this country very much. And people have, you know, a lot of people have got to get over, like, like with, you know, back when Bill Clinton was there again, I didn’t vote for Bill Clinton, but I will tell you, I thought he did a great job with the economy and some other things like that.

He was very centrist and, uh, Everybody got over the Monica Lewinsky stuff. I mean, there’s still the people who were holding, Oh my God. You know what he does under the desk in the Oval Office makes me no difference. Um, Yeah, I literally, I just want to see our country strong and I wanna see America come back again as the number one country.

And we were so close to that. We were so close to being there.

Gene Valentino: Does he see himself as having been surrounded by some people with, um, intentions [00:33:00] less pure than his? Was he as smart of a business guy as I know he is and see he is. I can’t help but notice there might have, he might be willing to admit to the fact that there were some bad actors around him.

Rex Tillerson, Mad Dog Maddox, uh, uh, uh, some of the others that, um, Anthony Scaramucci, even on the, on that side. There, I could name three or four more, but the point is, aren’t there We’re the rest of the folks like Steve Mnuchin and, um, and, and others that, that were in his circle that really took him over the finish line with a fiscal policy in certain other areas.

Uh, I, I, um, Regret he trusted some people as much as he did. Now that’s a compliment because I’m just as guilty of that. I, I want to believe the best in people and what do we do? We surround ourselves with the, [00:34:00] with the belief that we like these good people around us and trust, uh, they have no ill intent.

And, and that’s, it’s a blessing, but it’s a curse. And it’s for that reason alone, I’m going to vote for him again. I just wish that the second time, God willing, he makes it, he has a circle around him. I look at it, Kent, as he, in the first term of office, he ran the 440 in the, in the track race, and he wins the race every time in his first term in office.

You know what he did it? With a ball and chain around him. He still won the track, he still sprint and won. But he was carrying a ball and chain. Can you imagine if this guy was freed of that ball and chain and was allowed to turn on the turbo turbocharged that engine with a team around him that’s explosive and dynamic to do all the great things, uh, and continue the [00:35:00] legacy long after he, after he finishes a second term.

Uh, I gave you a few openers there. What do you think?

Kent Emmons: Well, let’s take a look at the alternative. I mean, you know, I’ve known Joe Biden since he was a senator and you know, he’s always just, he’s been nothing but a windbag and he’s, he’s, he’s got more side hustles going on. Always has had. And, you know, you would go meet with him as a senator and, uh, whatever you were pitching.

Oh, yes, yes. I, I, I think, yeah, I, I see where you’re at. You only listen two or three minutes. I see where you’re at. Um, take his business card out, write down and call this guy. They are perfect at getting those type of bills through and blah, blah, blah. Well, it was always somebody that was really, it was related to it.

It was his brother. It was one of his best friends or, and it was always a lobbying firm that wanted to hit you up for 250, 000. And that type of thing. You know, Biden is, he’s, there’s no substance there. And it was sad because, you know, most people are not well read. Most people don’t really know the inner workings of Washington DC.[00:36:00]

Um, and he’s just, he’s been a grifter. There’s many of those grifters up there, but he’s been a grifter his entire career in DC. Nothing sincere about him. Um, you know, he’s not that kindly old man that they made him out to be. Um, uh, and it’s sad because, uh, here is this guy that, uh, He didn’t, he’s a side hustle guy.

That, that’s it. You know, and by the way, drives people nuts that Trump is not a side hustle guy. You, I mean, you know, it, it either, it either is good for America or it’s not. That’s it. He doesn’t care. He’s made his money. He’s done very well. You can throw all the stones at him you want, but we’ve never had anybody that successful.

Holding public office who, who would stand up and just say, you know what, this is BS. This is nonsense. That’s not going to fly. This will, no one’s ever had the spine to do that. Cause again, he doesn’t need it. And I’m not defending him. I’m just saying he was a good leader. He

Gene Valentino: is a good leader. He doesn’t need it.

But [00:37:00] since he was elected, uh, he’s, he’s Up to today, he’s lost money. He’d be, I, I submit he’s lost more money than he’s made in, uh, since he’s become president. But, um, uh, in the last five minutes or so, Kent, would you like to circle back? You know, one thing about you that amazes me, any, any politics in your future, by the way?

Kent Emmons: Uh, I don’t know, you know, uh, I got hit up pretty hard to run for that, uh, Dianne Feinstein seat. And, uh, you know, did a lot of looking into that, you know, did a lot of traveling and speaking around in California, never announced it for us anything because I just didn’t know, didn’t know if I was going to do it.

An impossible seat to win, but, um, you know, look, if the right time to step up and serve, uh, comes up, I will, I certainly will step up and serve. One thing in California, you have a real, real shortage of leadership. There are no good leaders out there who will step up and do what’s right. But you’ve also got a very soft and squishy voter base out there who they’re not well read.

You know, [00:38:00] they’re very, you know, they’re very, uh, uninformed, low information voters. They’re touchy feely. That’s why they put up with the, you know, the highest. And by the way, you want to hear a great, uh, some stats. Yeah, yeah. You like stats. You and I’ve talked stats before. So, did you know California has 44 million residents?

And of those 44 million residents, over the last four years, over 950, 000 have come out as trans. Uh, and their pronouns are Florida, Texas, and Tennessee. So, that tells you everything you need to know about California. People are leaving like crazy. They’re in such bad shape, they, they can’t text their way.

Out of the condition that they’re in right now. So going back to political aspirations, I am a hundred percent out of California. Uh, you know, as far as my businesses go, I, uh, still have personal relationships back there. 100 percent out of California, uh, wouldn’t go back and do business there. And by the way, no one’s opening businesses [00:39:00] there either.

Um, now let’s cut to Tennessee where I’ve had a home for 30 some odd years. Um, Tennessee, you have a tremendous amount of great leaders. I mean, we have, you know, we have the, the best run house of representatives, state house in the, in the country. We have the best run Senate in the country. We have a great governor.

Our Secretary of State is one of the, we, we, we have great folks running the state of Tennessee. So where do you step in? I mean, we have Bill Hagerty, we have Marcia Blackburn, who are two of the greatest senators ever to grace the floor of the Senate. Um, we don’t have a lack of leaders here. So step, where do you step up in Tennessee?

You know, where I get involved is supporting these folks that I think are fantastic and that will keep Tennessee, uh, You know, keep Tennessee nice and tight. By the way, uh, just to do a quick little pitch, we’re the lowest tax state in the country, lowest regulated state in the country, highest surpluses per capita in the country, we’re a pay as you go [00:40:00] state, we’re a right to work state.

Um, we are, we have got it all going on here. So what I do and what a lot of other people do is we support making darn sure that this state never turns to California. And we’ve taken a lot of measures to make sure that it happens. And by the way. One of the greatest Americans ever to live, Art Laffer, good friend of mine, lives right here.

You know, he was Reagan’s economist. He was Trump’s economist. He also takes, and he’s, you know, very well versed in policy. Uh, he is one of those great guardians at the gate who is protecting the state of Tennessee. But we’ve got thousands of us that are very, very adamant about making sure that this state is always the best state to live and grow a business.

Gene Valentino: Well, take the best out of Tennessee, Florida, Texas, and I think you’ve got yourself, uh, uh, if you could cookie cutter that to 47 other states, I think you’ve got a saved nation. Hey, before you leave Florida, uh, California completely, what’s your take on, [00:41:00] uh, uh, Major League Baseball player Steve Schiff?

Kent Emmons: Well, I love the guy.

Uh, you know, when I was, uh, when I was kind of considered the guy that would be running for that Senate seat. Um, uh, you know, he, uh, one of the elected senators, uh, called me and said, Garvey was thinking about jumping in. He and I had quite a few conversations, um, we kind of felt like, you know, look, Steve’s got a great name.

He’s very well known. He’s, you know, played in two ball teams out there in California. He’s also got the, the ear of the Hispanics cause he’s got so many good friends that are Hispanic baseball players. And he’s also a good guy. Does he have a shot at winning? You know, I wish he did. You know, the, the problem in California is the party out there is highly dysfunctional.

Uh, you’ve got these factions. Fortunately, I got along, I, I still get along with all those factions of the party, but they tend to hate each other. They write bad things about each other. They, you know, it’s, it’s kind of like, uh, [00:42:00] you know, especially in a place like California, you know, the Democrats have got, you know, A ton of gunpowder.

The Republicans have got a ton of gunpowder. Well, by the time they get to the general election, the Republicans have used all their gunpowder shooting each other. And I just don’t see that changing in California anytime soon. I wish it would, because I got to tell you. You know, I, we grow, I grew three great businesses out there.

I have so many great friends out there. Most have moved, you know, most, uh, anybody that, that earns money has moved. Um, it’s a wonderful, wonderful, wonderful place and a lot of great people out there, but they’ve just been, they’ve been hijacked by, uh, by the crazies.

Gene Valentino: You know, we’re talking with, uh, Kent Emmons.

Uh, Kent, you and I came out of, uh, it was once republicanism and, uh, we have moved, I came from Connecticut to Florida. Uh, you came from, uh, California to Tennessee. We took similar, we, our journeys. [00:43:00] We’re kind of parallel, although different locations. And, um, I do think for some crazy reason, we both had our toes and broadcast the broadcast industry in our earlier years as well.

And now you’re before we circle back to Crave News and Close, I would you like to make one pitch on your book, The Common Sense 80% and where folks can, can get it. ’cause it’s got some great information in there.

Kent Emmons: Delighted to do it. And of course, like I said, in the next month or so, the new, the new additions coming out, updated additions coming out.

But yeah, it is a great, and it really is, you know, look, I grew up in southern Illinois in a town. I was just up there last weekend or weekend before last. Um, you know, in an amazing area still, but by the way, just one of the most beautiful little Midwest towns you’ll ever go into. But I watched great leadership on both sides, Democrats and Republicans.

Cause you know, back then it was about a 50 50 thing and there wasn’t a big difference between the two, but everybody had common sense. And [00:44:00] I take a look now. at that same little town and same little county. I think we’re the smallest county by land size and second smallest by population. Uh, our town has about 7, 000 people in it.

The county has about 9, 000 people in it. And, um, you know, it’s in Illinois. So, you know, Chicago politics sadly rules the rest of the state. You’ve got this highly dysfunctional Cook County and some of the collar counties around it, yet despite the horrible legislation that comes out of Springfield that’s really a result of, you know, Chicago politics, and having some of the worst regulations, You’ve got these wonderful leaders, Democrats and Republicans, um, that managed to make these small counties work.

And they, you know, they were like you. I mean, you’re, you, again, I, I will always refer to you as a legendary county commissioner down where you’re at. Um, county commissioner, city council. My dad was on city council for years. They made it work despite the crap they had to deal with. And that’s what we need [00:45:00] all around this country is I don’t care if it’s Republican or Democrat, um, they’ve got to, we’ve got to have these people that step up and help, help, you know, grow these communities that are in these blue states.

And, uh, hopefully grow them out of being blue states into purple and eventually red.

Gene Valentino: Yeah, the, that’s where I got the name of the podcast, Grassroots Truthcast, because it’s all about the local community and the, uh, the grassroots of the folks in those communities, uh, governing from the bottom up, which is what our founders intended, not the elitists at the top down, which, uh, we need to be cautious of how far.

They carry the control, not only to illegal migrants coming into the country, but, uh, where we started in the media, how far are they going in on the other end of the spectrum? They’re hitting us from all sides. And I think, uh, uh, you, You’re a patriot, you’re an entrepreneur, [00:46:00] but you’re also a master at understatement.

The things you’re doing to impact this nation with key figures that you’ve been associated with impressed a tar out of me, and I’m glad you’re here. Uh, I’m, I’m glad you had President Trump’s ear a few days ago, uh, in bringing forward hopefully some solutions for the future of this nation, which we can come back and do another podcast on and reveal more particularly maybe in the future with the likes of a, um, of, uh, Project Veritas, James O’Keefe.

Uh, uh, James

Kent Emmons: O’Keefe is O M G. O M G. O’Keefe Media Group.

Gene Valentino: Yep. Yeah, and I was just about to say, morphed now into, uh, OMG Project, um, uh, O’Keefe Media Group and, um, but back to you, before you close, how can folks reach you, Kent, and where can

Kent Emmons: they go online? You know what? Just hit me up, uh, kent at kentemmons.

com. [00:47:00] You’re welcome to just email me directly. That goes right into my email, email box, uh, and, uh, delighted to talk with anyone. Um, uh, and the biggest thing is, uh, you know, making sure that. Everybody, when you’re out there searching for the truth, make sure that you’re looking at both sides. You know, make sure you’re looking at both sides.

Gene Valentino: True, fair, and objective, and balanced. Any closing comments and pitch on Crave News, and when it’s going to open, and what, what the current status is?

Kent Emmons: No, uh, studios are being built out. We’re in great shape, uh, ready to rock and roll. We’ve got our initial round of funding, uh, uh, pretty much done, and uh, doing the secondary round that we don’t need that to launch.

And, uh, we’re, I mean, look, the country needs a great news outlet. We need a news outlet that’s got every side that’s, that is real news. No bullshit. That’s, that’s the tagline. And, uh, we, um, you know, we’re looking forward to bringing that to the people. And, and again, as you know, Gene, in all of my companies, [00:48:00] the tagline is whatever the task is.

The tagline is, and have fun doing it. And that’s exactly what we’re going to do.

Gene Valentino: Have fun doing it. Do what you want to do. Not what you have to do and have fun doing it. Thank you for joining me today. You’ve, it’s been a pleasure having you with us.

Kent Emmons: Brother Gene, you are a great American. I can’t wait to get down there and hit the panhandle with you.

Well, I

Gene Valentino: think it’s time for us to cause a little trouble. I’m in. The Panhandle’s got a great, uh, quite a few venues for that. And maybe we’ll take a plane ride here in the backyard over Perdido Bay and go west towards Biloxi or east towards anywhere you want in Florida and, and see some sites. Let’s do it.

We’re not far from the NAS Pensacola and it’s the home of the Blue Angels. It’s also where, um, the third, second or third largest, uh, travel tourism destination, uh, resort is, is the, uh, is [00:49:00] the NAS Pensacola Museum adjuxt to the Blue Angels. And, uh, it’s, it’s, it’s one hell of a Navy museum that, uh, has captured America’s history in so many ways.

It’s a history class unto itself. Thank you again, Kent Edmonds, entrepreneur, patriot, uh, founder and developer of a new concept called Crave News, which we will hear about shortly. Thank you again, Kent. Thank you, Brother Gene, see you soon. And thank you, ladies and gentlemen, for joining us again for another episode on Gene Valentino’s Grassroots Truthcast. See you soon.

Narrator: Thanks for joining us for Gene Valentino’s Grassroots Truthcast. Be sure to like and subscribe, and God bless [00:50:00] America.