Lost in the hurly-burly over Donald Trump’s conviction is another bit of good news. Two years ago, right-wing provocateur and pseudointellec
Darrell Lucus at Daily Kos:
Lost in the hurly-burly over Donald Trump’s conviction is another bit of good news. Two years ago, right-wing provocateur and pseudointellectual Dinesh D’Souza released “2000 Mules,” a film that alleged Trump had a second term stolen from him as a result of a wide-ranging scheme by Democrats to stuff ballot boxes in key swing states. In other words, it was a 90-minute paean to the Big Lie. The film has been widely debunked as one of the latest pieces of conspiracy theory trash from a man with a long history of trafficking in said trash, as has an accompanying book.
Late Friday, D’Souza finally got a long-overdue reckoning for his shameless promotion of the Big Lie. Salem Media Group, the Christian conservative media group that distributed the film and book versions of “2000 Mules,” publicly disavowed both publications and announced it was pulling them from distribution. It didn’t come without prodding, however. Salem was all but forced to pulp both the book and film after a man depicted as one of those “mules” took both it and Salem to court. It initially looked like the beginning of the end for “2000 Mules” came when Salem and its then-publishing division, Regnery Publishing, abruptly pulled the book version from publication due to a supposed “publishing error.” Based on changes made when a new version was released in October, however, they came when several nonprofits whom D’Souza named as being involved in election fraud threatened legal action. D’Souza had earlier vowed to reveal the names of the “nonprofit stash houses” who supposedly illegally harvested ballots in 2020.
But the real dénouement began in October, when Atlanta resident Mark Andrews, who was depicted in the film, sued Salem and D’Souza for conspiracy to violate his right to vote, defamation, and invasion of privacy. While Andrews’ image was blurred in the film, his image was visible in the trailer and stills. Andrews claimed that he and his family had been the targets of violent threats, and feared being attacked by hardcore Trumpers. This isn’t just an abstract concern. Some of the most Trumpified territory in the nation is just an hour’s drive north of Atlanta, as most Georgia Kossacks know. Several counties in North Georgia—the balliwicks of Andrew Clyde and Marjorie Taylor Greene—gave Trump 70 percent or more of the vote. Andrews was subsequently cleared of wrongdoing; state officials found he had legally dropped off ballots for himself and his family.
Sharp analysis from Darrell Lucus on Daily Kos on how right-wing Christian conservative outlet Salem Media Group was forced to disavow both the book and film versions of election denier propaganda piece 2000 Mules from serial liar Dinesh D’Souza.
