As someone who hosts a radio show on the Salem Radio Network, I feel as though I have to occasionally tread lightly when discussing certain topics. Well.....it's not so much the content which gives me pause as much as it is who's espousing the opinions on said content. For instance, I've taken issue with several things SRN national host Charlie Kirk has said on his show or in his public speeches. While it's perfectly fine to disagree with his words, I've found myself crossing the line by getting personal when talking about Kirk himself (I know. I need to be better than that).
Perhaps the biggest struggle I endured was over Dinesh D'Souza's documentary 2000 Mules. This was a project which spun a tale of certain individuals in Georgia casting absentee ballots in the 2020 presidential election which legally didn't belong to them. These allegations were supported by the film airing what we were told was surveillance footage of the "mules" dropping off ballots in multiple lockboxes. Because D'Souza aired a podcast through SRN online, his doc was widely plugged by our organization's many affiliates. He even granted interviews on a good number of the radio stations, including a segment on my show back in May 2022. However, I personally did not conduct the interview, rather a pre-record with D'Souza was inserted into a segment on my broadcast. As many of my blog readers/radio show listeners may know, I often hit back at claims of widespread fraud in Georgia, a normally reliable red state which Joe Biden won narrowly in 2020. As such, had I been asked to promote D'Souza's documentary, I would have unequivocally declined.
I share all this to say that I am grateful (and downright relieved) that the beloved organization who allows me to broadcast a show two hours every Sunday has seen the light.
Salem Media Group said that it has pulled Dinesh D’Souza’s movie 2000 Mules from its platforms, issuing an apology to a Georgia man who was falsely accused of illegal voting activity in the project.
D’Souza’s documentary grossed almost $1.5 million in its 2022 release, as it made a number of claims that the 2020 election was rigged to an extent that Donald Trump would have won key battleground states. But a number of D’Souza’s claims were quickly debunked, per Factcheck.org. Nevertheless, Trump cited the movie in his ongoing claims that the election was stolen from him.
In its statement, Salem said, In publishing the film and the book, we relied on representations made to us by Dinesh D’Souza and True the Vote, Inc. 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.
Salem added, “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.”
This came less than a year after Donald Trump's lawyer Rudy Giuliani admitted he lied about Georgia election workers (for which he absurdly claimed First Amendment protections) mishandling ballots in that very same 2020 election. Giuliani was ultimately found liable to the tune of $148 million.
I'm not a person who takes pleasure in others' suffering when I am proven right for questioning their character. But I will say I feel vindicated, especially in light of some AM 1280 listeners calling station management to demand I be fired for being too "anti-Trump" (funny how these people never addressed the substance of my criticism though). But hey, all is forgiven. Feel free to call my show anytime.
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