Taryn Teutsch, Daughter of Mike Rinder
TRANSCRIPT:
What was very clear to me in this book, written by my father, Mike Rinder, is the fact that it is not based on actual events. It is not what happened. I know this because as a daughter I’m reading it and on almost every page turn it was like, “Oh, that’s not what happened.” “Oh, why’s he saying that? That’s not where we were at that time.” Or—just on and on. And, “Hey, Ben, wasn’t this four years later?” And, you know—so it was very, very clear that the book was riddled with untruths, lies and twisted reality of what actually happened. There was one truth I noticed that he did say, which is that he said he was a bad father. And that’s true. Other than that, the book is a complete and utter farce.
2. DENIGRATING PORTRAYAL OF HIS CHILDREN
The way that Mike Rinder portrays my brother and I in this book is really gross. We are put forth by him as children who cannot think for themselves, that we’ve been “brainwashed” and, you know, even down to calling us “specimens.” And for a father to say anything like that, even close to that, about their children while professing their “love” for their children, it just does not make sense. That makes it very clear: the book and everything he is saying is a complete and total charade. And that he doesn’t mean a word—a word that he wrote in that book.
3. DEDICATION OF BOOK INSINCERE
When I saw that this book was dedicated to my brother and I, I could not believe it. I was in shock because my father, Mike Rinder, has never cared for us in our life and never loved us—period.
He abandoned our family, he attacked my mom and domestically abused her, he harassed my brother at such a crucial point in his life when he was fighting cancer and he violated his own mother’s home, he hurt his brother more than once in his life, and he’s been cold and heartless to his family and to his children, my brother and I, for our whole life. And now he has this book, and it’s full of lies about our family. Which is what makes it so horrible, because it’s like, “That’s not my life.” But yet he says it is and it’s just not true, along with everything else in that book.
5. MIKE’S ATTACK ON CATHY RINDER
My father attacked my mom right in front of me, his daughter—in front of his own daughter. An ambulance had to come. She’s been on one medical handling or another for the last twelve years since that happened. He damaged her nerves and cracked her shoulder, and she’s in pain every single day of her life. Following that, he continued to victim shame her, and to have haters and trolls come after me—and my mom too—on social media. And continue to, on any platform that they had, spread lies about us, spread hate about us. And to do Mike’s dirty work.
This definitely is not just about this book that my father, Mike Rinder, has written. This is about years and years, a lifetime, of hate, pain, harassment, coldness, physical abuse by Mike Rinder to not only my family, but my religion, my friends and everything that I believe in. As a daughter I reject 100 percent his professed love in this book because I know it’s not true. I know 100 percent it’s not true. And, you know, it’s just something he’s doing to monetize his hate. And the support of him and his book, and any other platform that he has, has got to end.