Salem Media Pulls Election Conspiracy Film ‘2,000 Mules’ from All Platforms
Dinesh D'Souza speaks with attendees at the 2020 Student Action Summit hosted by Turning Point USA at the Palm Beach County Convention Center in West Palm Beach, Florida. (Photo by Gage Skidmore)
Salem Media Group, the largest U.S. radio company providing Christian and conservative programming, is removing the book and film “2,000 Mules” from all its platforms, according to a statement last Friday. The group also apologized to a Georgia man who filed a defamation suit, claiming the film falsely accused him of ballot fraud during the 2020 election.
The film, made by Dinesh D’Souza and Texas-based nonprofit True the Vote, claims to show footage of people committing voter fraud in the 2020 election. The film argues that the fraud was part of a broader conspiracy to steal the election from former president Donald Trump.
The film also shows surveillance video of a Georgia man, Mark Andrews, putting five ballots in a drop box in an Atlanta suburb, according to Andrews’ lawsuit. While he does this, D’Souza says in a voiceover, “What you are seeing is a crime. These are fraudulent votes.”
Though Andrews’ face was blurred in this footage, his full face was later shown during the promotion and discussion of the film by True the Vote’s executives, according to the lawsuit.
Salem Media Group said that it had not intended to harm Andrews.
“It was never our intent that the publication of the 2000 Mules film and book would harm Mr. Andrews,” the company said in its statement. “We apologize for the hurt the inclusion of Mr. Andrews’ image in the movie, book, and promotional materials have caused Mr. Andrews and his family.”
Salem Media Group also noted that it will no longer distribute the “2000 Mules” film or the book of the same title that followed.
Andrews explained in his lawsuit how the film led to threats of violence against him and his family
“(Mr. Andrews and his family) feel intimidated to vote and have changed how they vote because of that fear,” the lawsuit said. “They worry that again they will be baselessly accused of election crimes, and that believers in the ‘mules’ theory may recognize and seek reprisal against them, and that they may face physical harm.”
The fraud accusations against Andrews were later cleared by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, according to Salem Media Group’s statement.
The Bureau found that Andrews was legally dropping off ballots for himself, his wife, and their three adult children, who all lived at the same address, according to the AP News. In Georgia, it’s legal to do this, the news publication added.
Andrews’ lawsuit against D’Souza, True the Vote, and Salem Media Group is still ongoing, according to court records.
The film describes how ballot “mules” associated with Democrats were paid to illicitly collect and deliver ballots in Georgia and four other swing states, according to its description on IMDB.
Salem Media Group explained in its statement that it “relied on representations” made by D’Souza and True the Vote that people in the footage were participating in unlawfully depositing ballots.
After its release in 2022, D’Souza hailed the movie as “successful in its political and cultural influence” in an interview with the Business Wire. “It’s the most talked about movie out there right now, making headlines in multiple publications, and is trending extremely high on social media,” D’Souza said.
Trump described the film as “the greatest and most impactful documentary of our time,” according to The New York Times.
However, an Associated Press analysis found that the film is based on faulty assumptions, anonymous accounts and improper analysis of cellphone location data. Additionally, in February, True the Vote told a court that it did not have evidence to support its allegations of illegal ballot stuffing.
Salem Media Group operates a national talk radio network with more than 13 million listeners, according to its website. It distributes the programs of several prominent personalities such as Charlie Kirk and Sebastian Gorka. The group aims to daily serve “a loyal and dedicated audience of listeners and readers,” according to its website.
Film producer D’Souza was formerly the president of the Christian school King’s College in New York from 2010-2012. He resigned amid alleged infidelity in 2012, The Roys Report previously reported.
This story was republished with permission from The Roys Report.
Liz Lykins is a freelancer who writes for WORLD Magazine, Christianity Today, Ministry Watch, and other publications.