Movie Review: Vindicating Trump

Last Friday, a Dinesh D’Souza film attempting to humanize a man who is likely the most loved, and yet the most hated, president in modern times — Donald Trump — hit theaters. Beyond showing the “real Trump,” the film seeks to show evidence of how the Democratic Party “rigged” the election.

While the film does not make outright claims or accusations, it does present speculation and offer evidence in asking the viewer to decide for themselves.

D’Souza narrates the film and opens where this journey began, when Donald J. Trump announced his presidential bid in 2015. The film includes interviews where D’Souza sits down with Lara Trump (Trump’s daughter-in-law, a North Carolina native), co-chair of the RNC, and Alina Habba, Trump’s lawyer. 

Lara described him as a “family first” man, emphasizing that people often forget that he is a human being. She recounted an incident where he showed up for Grandparent’s Day at her daughter’s school despite running a presidential campaign and facing 91 indictments. 

D’Souza had the opportunity to sit down with Trump for a face-to-face interview just one week after the July 13 assassination attempt, hearing directly from Trump how the moment felt.

In a flashback to the 2016 presidential election, D’Souza addressed the number of people who believe the election was “rigged.” D’Souza hired investigators to look into the matter. Investigators found evidence that ballots can be bought and shipped directly to your home and legally copied. Most ballots do not have a watermark or a demarcation to authenticate them, unlike money.

“We value money more than our vote,” said an investigator in the film.

The film also seeks to demonstrate that ballots can quickly be snuck in or out during election night chaos. In addition, very little is done to authenticate a ballot’s signature. Metal ballot boxes can easily be purchased online and shipped to your home. Once these are filled with falsified votes, they can quickly be snuck into a polling location. The lack of ballot authentication is partly due to a deadline most polling places are under to have ballots counted by.  This is why, they say, little effort is put into authenticating signatures while counting ballots.

For a small fee, the film says, one can quickly obtain a list of names of those who have not voted in recent elections. These names can be signed onto ballots and snuck into polling places. 

D’Souza points out a number of apparent loopholes in the system that can leave elections vulnerable to tampering. Democrats target voters by going out and registering people to vote, often even people who are homeless or live in shelters. One scene depicted a worker registering someone to vote. When she asked him for his address, he said, “I live under that bridge over there.” She responded, “That’s ok. We can use the shelter’s address.”

The film presents the potential for fraud in such scenarios. When 500 people who live in or frequent a shelter are registered to vote, maybe only 200 come and get their ballots, leaving the remaining ballots are open for nefarious purposes. 

Directors then turn the focus to different loopholes in different states. Some states, like Minnesota, have a voucher program where a registered voter can vouch for up to eight people who live in the same area, not requiring an

D’Souza repeatedly compares Trump to President Lincoln and the iconic cowboy, such as Clint Eastwood’s “The Pale Rider,” who comes in, sets the town straight, and rides off into the sunset. 

Lara Trump shared that Trump believes he is the only one who can right the ship before the Titanic crashes into the iceberg.

The movie closes with the final words from Trump’s 2020 State of the Union. 

“America is the place where anything can happen.  America is the place where anyone can rise.  And here, on this land, on this soil, on this continent, the most incredible dreams come true. This nation is our canvas, and this country is our masterpiece.  We look at tomorrow and see unlimited frontiers just waiting to be explored.  Our brightest discoveries are not yet known.  Our most thrilling stories are not yet told.  Our grandest journeys are not yet made.  The American Age, the American Epic, the American adventure has only just begun. Our spirit is still young, the sun is still rising, God’s grace is still shining, and, my fellow Americans, the best is yet to come.”

The Carolina Journal does not endorse the views and opinions expressed in this film. 

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