WorldNetDaily has been an enthusiastic promoter of the Dinesh D’Souza film “2000 Mules” — even as evidence discrediting it immediately surfaced and continued to do so months later. A July 2023 column by editor Joseph Farah tried to bestow right-wing victimhood on Catherine Engelbrecht and Gregg Phillips, the True the Vote activists whose claims form the basis of the film, complaining about a Wall Street Journal article exposing the lack of evidence supporting the film’s claims and their refusal to cooperate with law enforcement to substantiate those claims. “Engelbrecht called the article ‘end-to-end inaccurate.’ She’s being polite as always,” Farah wrote, further gushing:
They have not been cowed by lawsuits, intimidated by imprisonment or threatened by bigger players. They are about to come out with another movie in the spirit of “2000 Mules,” and they will not be deterred.
Just like a David-and-Goliath struggle, never count them down or out. They’ll take whatever slings and arrows come their way. We need people like Engelbrecht and Phillips now more than ever. I’m encouraged by their strength and perseverance. “No evidence” my ass. We’re winning because the truth is on our side.
I stand with them in the Lord. Praise them both and their entire team!
The following month, Farah touted “True the Vote’s discovery of a not-well-conceived plot by China to subvert the sanctity of America’s institution of voting” and criticized the FBI for purportedly ignoring its evidence, going on to huff: “It’s time to make all the people at least aware of what’s happening – then we have a chance to start doing something that will make a difference. Then, and only then, can we save America.”
Meanwhile, WND was silent about another piece of evidence that discredits the film. In October 2022, Mark Andrews sued the film’s makers and distributor for including footage of him placing ballots into a ballot box and claimed he was one of the titular “mules” engaging in fraudulent ballot-stuffing; in fact, he was returning ballots for himself and his family, which is perfectly legal. His lawsuit was allowed to go forward around the time Farah was fretting about Engelbrecht and Phillips being held accountable for refusing to provide the evidence they claimed they had.
In the midst of that, D’Souza published a book related to the film that had to be recalled and substantially re-edited for making false and unsubstantiated claims.
In February, True the Vote — which had claimed there were improprieties in Georgia elections in 2020 and 2021 — was ordered by the court to present evidence to support the claim; it admitted that it had no names or other documentary evidence to share. This is, as one writer pointed out, the final repudiation of “2000 Mules” — but WND stayed silent about it.
Yet that wasn’t all. In May, Andrews reached an agreement with Salem Media, which was the film’s executive producer, that would force Salem to remove the film from distribution and issue an apology to Andrews; Salem stated, “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.” Andrews’ defamation lawsuit against D’Souza and True the Vote is still ongoing.
This development finally forced WND to notice — albeit in its usual lazy way. Rather than do its own reporting, it simply reprinted the first few paragraphs of an article on the agreement by the right-wing site the Independent Sentinel. And … that was it. No apology from Farah and Co. (or even Chuck Norris) for endorsing and promoting a film that has been proven to be false. No admission of wrongdoing, no criticism of D’Souza, Engelbrecht and Phillips for deceiving them so thoroughly.
Then again, Engelbrecht, for one, remains in denial. After the Salem settlement, she issued a video claiming that Salem “made a business decision” by withdrawing the film and insisting that “It has nothing to do with the accuracy of the material that was presented into that climate when it was first all done.” That seems to be the attitude WND is ultimately taking as well — even though clinging to lies does nothing to enhance any credibility it might still have.