Local readers may have read in yesterday’s paper about the creation of an “appreciation day” for first responders planned by the Ohio County Republican Party. The event was to culminate at the White Palace with a showing of Dinesh D’Souza propaganda film, “2000 Mules.” Apparently, our local Republican/Trump Party did not check first with the city, or Wheeling’s local officials were quickly reminded that the D’Souza film made the event very partisan: today’s Wheeling News-Register reports that:

Wheeling city officials decided Friday they will not permit uniformed city police or fire department members to participate in a first responders appreciation event next week organized by the Ohio County Republican Party.

The issue for those officials is with a Dinesh D’Souza documentary that will be shown at the end of the event. . . .

“I have no issue with city employees attending, but I take issue with them taking part in an event in uniform that is showing a documentary for political purposes,” Wheeling Mayor Glenn Elliott explained. “We decided it was not appropriate for them to appear in uniform.”

He added that while the city supports its first responders, the documentary includes a “highly partisan message that is divisive.”

The local Trump Party’s reaction was predictable

From today’s article:

“We can dedicate a whole month for pride activities in our city, but I guess we cannot have an appreciation event for first responders,” said Carlee Dittmar, vice chairman of the Ohio County Republican Party.

Carlee, the city objected to the showing of a highly-partisan movie, not to the event itself.

From numerous fact checkers: we learn that the D’Souza movie is fact-free

Since its release in May, fact checkers have had a field day with the movie. For starters, try NPR or Annenberg’s Fact Check.org, or the Associated Press which looked at the “gaping holes” in D’Souza’s film. And, after a long, detailed analysis, here is Reuters conclusion:

The documentary “2000 Mules” does not provide any concrete, verifiable evidence of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election. Technology and election integrity experts consulted by Reuters also did not find the geolocation, surveillance or any other information presented showed plausible evidence of fraud.

How bad is this movie?

Even conservative outlets have criticized the film. Fox News, for example, has mostly ignored or criticized D’Souza and his film. As The Daily Beast reported when it was released:

Dinesh D’Souza’s Vile Big Lie Documentary Is Too Stupid Even for Fox

And from conservative Charlie Sykes’ The Bulwark:

Dinesh D’Souza’s 2000 Mules Is a Hilarious Mockumentary

With the subheading:

A tour de force exploring the limits of how many suckers there are willing to pay for fantasy.

(“Suckers”? Apparently, the local Trump Party believes that there are some in the Wheeling area.
Today’s paper tells us: “The showing of 2000 Mules is set for 7 p.m. A $10 donation will get the guest admission to the documentary and free popcorn.”)

Finally, it should be noted the book version of D’Souza’s film was just pulled by its publisher

From NPR:

Conservative provocateur Dinesh D'Souza's book version '2,000 Mules' was pulled from shelves over a unspecific "publishing error."

NPR got a copy and found no production errors, but did find many misleading claims regarding the 2020 election. https://t.co/vZUdldirdS

— NPR (@NPR) September 9, 2022

By the way, Regnery is a major publisher of conservative books, and it is quite unusual to pull a book after its publication. Most of the speculation online dealt with possible libel issues.

So this is what the local Republican Party has become: a good idea (an appreciation day for first responders) becomes an excuse to push Trump’s lies about our last election. They’re pathetic.