Publisher Recalls Big Lie '2000 Mules' Book and Movie

Reminds me of another book dropped by a publisher

Salem Media Group issued an apology for the “book and film “2,000 Mules,” which alleged a widespread conspiracy by Democrats to steal the 2020 election and was embraced by former president Donald Trump.” The publisher is removing the book and film from publication.

The Salem statement was released May 31 and reads:

Salem Media Group, Inc.’s (OTCQX: SALM) former publishing division, Regnery Publishing (together, “Salem”), published a film and book entitled 2000 Mules that examines allegations of voter fraud related to the 2020 presidential election. In publishing the film and the book, we relied on representations made to us by Dinesh D’Souza and True the Vote, Inc. (“TTV”) that the individuals depicted in the videos provided to us by TTV, including Mr. Andrews, illegally deposited ballots. We have learned that the Georgia Bureau of Investigation has cleared Mr. Andrews of illegal voting activity in connection with the event depicted in 2000 Mules.

It was never our intent that the publication of the 2000 Mules film and book would harm Mr. Andrews. 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. We have removed the film from Salem’s platforms, and there will be no future distribution of the film or the book by Salem.

According to NPR, True the Vote denies responsibility for the misrepresentations in the book and video. I have yet to see a statement from Dinesh D’Souza.

D’Souza, former president of King’s College in New York City, has become one of former president Donald Trump’s biggest apologists. Although numerous state and federal courts determined voter fraud did not influence the outcome of the 2020 presidential election, D’Souza has been a consistent proponent of the Big Lie that the election was stolen from Donald Trump.

While it is unclear if the removal from distribution of 2000 Mules will have effect, it seems unlikely to me. If history is a guide, D’Souza may become even more popular with the “make America great again” supporters of Donald Trump. It is rare that a book is removed from publication by a publisher. This event reminds me of David Barton’s book The Jefferson Lies which was removed from publication in 2012 due to factual errors. Barton suffered a hit to his popularity and credibility for a brief time, but eventually recovered and remains influential in the Christian nationalist movement. As regular readers know, I just finished up a podcast series reviewing the story behind those events. I invite you to listen to “The Jefferson Lies” wherever you get your podcasts.

Yes, It’s a Cult

The response of Donald Trump’s followers to this news may be diagnostic of their status in the cult of MAGA. His true followers (it is appropriate to label them followers since they hang on his words and instructions to guide their thoughts and actions) will continue to believe the election was stolen. Every time an event happens which demonstrates the election was not stolen, Donald Trump simply repeats the lie that it was and otherwise intelligent people parrot the falsehoods as a condition of remaining in his good graces. This is not normal.

I’ve written about this before when the Trump prophecies failed after the 2020 election. Check out this vintage post with citation from the classic social psychology study When Prophecies Fail by Leon Festinger.

Image credit: By Gage Skidmore from Surprise, AZ, United States of America - Dinesh D'Souza, CC BY-SA 2.0