Dinesh D'Souza has been ridiculed for his conspiracy theories about President Obama and other progressives, but Republican elected officials have repeatedly rushed to his defense even when D'Souza has made absurd, unsupported allegations.

After D'Souza was charged for violating federal campaign finance law, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) claimed it was an “abuse of power” by the Obama administration. D'Souza was charged with using straw donors as a front for a $20,000 donation to a Senate candidate in 2012. Three other Republican senators - Mike Lee (R-UT), Charles Grassley (R-IA), and Jeff Sessions (R-AL) sent a letter along with Cruz to the director of the FBI seeking additional information on how D'Souza's violations came to light in order to “dispel this sort of public perception that Mr. D'Souza may have been targeted because of his outspoken criticisms of the President.” Their claims echoed outrage from conservative media, some of whom claimed that the criminal investigation carried overtones of “Nazi Germany.”

Fox News also hosted D'Souza to make allegations of political retribution against the Obama administration.

Despite the high-powered support, D'Souza eventually pleaded guilty to the charge. He admitted to the court that he had broken the law, saying he “knew that causing a campaign contribution to be made in the name of another was wrong and something the law forbids.”

Sen. Cruz is one of the featured interviews in America, D'Souza's documentary follow-up to 2016: Obama's America. The film's controversial themes include D'Souza equating “white indentured servants” with African-American slavery, and excusing mistreatment of Native Americans by noting that many of their descendants “have chosen to build resorts, casinos, and other entrepreneurial businesses.” America currently has a 9 percent rating at the movie review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes.

D'Souza has also been able to call in several political favors related to waging ideological war on the film's behalf.

D'Souza has been outraged that the Google search engine has not automatically listed his film as the top result when people type in “America movie.” He complained that Google's executives, along with executives at Costco (who made the decision to temporarily pull the companion book for America from its shelves) were “very much in bed with Obama.”

A representative from Google explained that the search engine had “unfortunately confused the title of the movie 'America', because it's a common term and appears in many movie titles.” Despite Google's explanation, Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) has gotten involved in the search issue on D'Souza's behalf, telling The Hollywood Reporter that he will “be suggesting the appropriate committee or subcommittee have some kind of hearing” on how Google listed D'Souza's movie in its search results. 

There is even support for America by an elected state official. Alan Hays, a Republican state senator in Florida, has announced a bill that would mandate viewings of America in that state's high schools and middle schools unless parents object. Hays said he would reach out to charitable groups to buy copies of the film, rather than the state, which would also of course financially benefit D'Souza and the film's producers.

D'Souza also accused the New York Times of rigging its bestseller list because it excluded the companion book to America, describing the paper as “the propaganda arm of the Obama administration.” So far, none of D'Souza's powerful friends have announced plans to investigate the Times on his behalf for this supposed transgression.