A new film fueling dubious and widely debunked conspiracy theories that bolster former US President Donald Trump’s claims of fraud it has become a box office hit.
Despite warnings from experts, the film “2000 Mules”conducted by Dinesh D’Souza -who was convicted of violating electoral finance laws, before being pardoned by the former president-, has raised over $1.2 million at the box office since its premiere at the end of May.
Carrying large buckets of popcorn, a group of elderly moviegoers crowds outside a Virginia movie theater for a morning showing.
Leaving aside adventure titles such as “Doctor Strange” or the latest premiere of “Sonic”, the group opts for the documentary that promises to “expose the widespread fraud and coordinated of the elections of 2020, enough to change the global result”.
Former President Donald Trump insists on the accusation of fraud. AP Photo
conspiracy theories
The film opens with anonymous voters enthusiastically slipping their ballots into ballot boxes emblazoned with the American flag, as D’Souza tells the audience that “elections are the lifeblood of our democracy.”
But, says the filmmaker as the background darkens, the 2020 election “they haunt the American mind”.
Like millions of Americans, including Trump, D’Souza fuels the debunked theory that the Democrats rigged the results of the last presidential elections, relying on the widespread use of postal voting during the covid-19 pandemic.
“We can’t move forward unless we know the truth,” the director continues in his voiceover.
In an attempt to prove the theory, rejected by all the relevant authorities in the United States, D’Souza is filmed phoning to arrange an appointment with the group. “True the Vote”based in Texas, which says it “supports the integrity of elections.”
In a kind of hangar equipped with computer servers, two members of said group they claim to have evidence of the existence of a well-planned operation by a group that, “like a cartel,” hired ‘mules’ to fill the electoral ballot boxes in several key states for the victory of Joe Biden in 2020.
United States President Joe Biden. AFP photo
To validate their hypothesis, they rely on vast amounts of anonymous location data from smartphone apps, which they say show the comings and goings of these “mules” between the headquarters of various NGOs and the voting centers.
It’s a “theft” and a “crime,” says D’Souza indignantly.
Sold out
and to see itall entries from a Virginia movie theater are sold.
“It’s like a nuclear bomb,” says one viewer.
Theories promoted in the film have been seriously questioned by multiple disinformation experts.
These maintain that a delivery man, a taxi driver or a postman could be considered as part of the network of “mules” that made said routes.
But for Trump and his supporters this is the ultimate test of the fraud that they have been denouncing for a year and a half.
“They rigged and stole the 2020 election, we can’t be okay with that, we just can’t move on,” says D’Souza at the end of the film.
And as the first notes of the United States national anthem resound, the filmmaker calls for mobilization: “The America we love needs us now more than ever.”
AFP Agency
PB
