Right-wing media company Salem apologizes, stops distributing 2020 election conspiracy film ‘2000 Mules’ after lawsuit

By CNN Newsource

Published May 31, 2024 3:11 PM

By Oliver Darcy, CNN

(CNN) — Salem Media Group, the right-wing talk radio network owner, issued a public apology and said it would stop distributing a discredited 2020 election conspiracy theory film after a Georgia man wrongly accused of voter fraud sued the company for defamation.

The Georgia man, Mark Andrews, said in his 2022 lawsuit that “2000 Mules,” a film and book by far-right activist Dinesh D’Souza contained a string of bogus claims about the 2020 election, leading to threats of violence against him and his family.

Andrews said the film, which has been repeatedly promoted by Donald Trump and widely circulated in right-wing media as supposed proof that the 2020 election was stolen, had severely damaged his reputation.

“It was never our intent that the publication of the 2000 Mules film and book would harm Mr. Andrews,” Salem said in a Friday 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.”

“We have removed the film from Salem’s platforms, and there will be no future distribution of the film or the book by Salem,” the right-wing company added.

The apology from Salem came as part of a larger settlement to the lawsuit filed by Andrews. A representative for Protect Democracy, a nonprofit group that sued Salem on behalf of Andrews, did not comment on the terms of the settlement. Neither did a representative for Salem.

Salem operates a national talk radio network, distributing the programs of several prominent pro-Trump personalities such as Charlie Kirk and Sebastian Gorka, to more than 2,700 affiliates. It also owns dozens of Christian-format radio stations and the right-wing political website Townhall.

In the “2000 Mules” film, Andrews was featured on video with his face blurred depositing his ballot, along with those belonging to his family, into a drop box in what the film purported was a so-called “mule” operation.

“What you are seeing is a crime,” a voiceover from D’Souza declared. “These are fraudulent votes.”

Salem said in its Friday statement that it “relied on representations” that D’Souza had made.

“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,” the company said.

In the aftermath of the 2020 election, Trump’s media allies promoted false claims that the election had been stolen by then-candidate Joe Biden. While the claims were false, polls have indicated that the lies were effective, convincing the majority of the Republican Party that Biden’s election was illegitimate.

Those election lies, however, have led to legal consequences for outlets that promoted the claims, with right-wing media companies facing a slew of costly lawsuits stemming from their coverage of the 2020 election. Last month, the pro-Trump network One America News settled a lawsuit brought by voting technology company Smartmatic over the outlet’s promotion of lies about the 2020 election. And last year, Fox News settled a historic $787 million defamation lawsuit filed by election company Dominion Voting Systems.