In May, Real America host Dan Ball interviewed right-wing fraudster Dinesh D’Souza as part of OAN’s promotional blitz for D’Souza’s new movie, 2000 Mules. Discussing the movie, which falsely purported to prove election fraud, Ball told D’Souza that “hopefully we can air it here on OAN as well” someday. That day has come.
After 2000 Mules’ complete dismemberment by a wide variety of fact-checkers, a pained interview with D’Souza in The Washington Post, and the sudden recall of a book version, the election conspiracy theory movie is making its TV premiere on One America News Network on October 15, just weeks before the midterm elections — and the network promises to air it at least four times that weekend alone.
OAN's commitment to airing 2000 Mules incessantly before the midterms fits the network's broader pattern of hammering its viewers with dubious claims of widespread election fraud supposedly perpetrated by Democrats. Meanwhile, OAN has urged viewers to “make sure your elections are secure” by becoming poll workers to guard against this nonexistent conspiracy, potentially disqualifying legitimate votes in the process.
On October 4, Ball announced that not only did OAN acquire “the exclusive debut television rights” to 2000 Mules, but there will also be “multiple encore presentations all the way until Election Day, November 8.” In his interview which followed, Ball suggested that he connected D’Souza to OAN owner Robert Herring to get “this important film on our network so millions can see it,’ adding, “Everybody needs to see this; left, right, indifferent.”