Inside the Mar-a-Lago Premiere of ‘Police State’: ‘We’re Already in One’

Donald Trump wasn’t at Mar-a-Lago for a red carpet movie premiere Wednesday night, but his presence was felt and celebrated by about 500 influential conservatives, media personalities and politicians who partied at the former president’s home in Florida without him. .

The premiere was for Dinesh D’Souzadocumentary of Police Stateabout supposedly normal, harmless Americans who say they have been arrested, harassed or censored by various branches of the US government.

Even though he wasn’t there, Trump posted his support for the film online, and midway through the party, D’Souza read the message aloud to guests. The film exposes “the deep state’s witch hunt against me. And the police state is coming for you,” Trump wrote.

D’Souza also alluded to a civil lawsuit where Trump is accused of exaggerating the value of his assets, including Mar-a-Lago, which Trump says was worth more than $1 billion, while a judge has said to be worth between $18 million and $27 million. millions

“It’s hard to believe this place is only worth $18 million,” D’Souza told those gathered in a large room near the pool.

“Maybe some of us should buy it; sell it for $400 million and use the proceeds to buy Fox News”, he joked to laughter and applause.

While progressives tend to dismiss D’Souza’s work as conspiratorial, a Rasmussen poll in September found that 72 percent of voters worry that America is becoming a police state, which the poll described as a tyrannical government engaged in mass surveillance, censorship, ideology. the indoctrination and orientation of political opponents.

What Americans don’t agree on is which side of the aisle the threat comes from. D’Souza’s film tries to make the case primarily from the left, though it does criticize some. republicans – especially the former president George W. Bush — for their alleged contributions.

Progressives also often discount D’Souza’s films because he pleaded guilty in 2014 to soliciting the help of a straw donor so he could give more money than the law allowed to a senate candidate

After D’Souza served his sentence, Trump pardoned him, and D’Souza briefly revisits the episode in his film.

While Rotten Tomatoes gives the film an audience score of 82 percent at the time of publication, a critic of Progressive Outing, mother jones, calls it the work of “extreme right-wing fringe characters” and laments: “None of the alleged victims in Police State they are innocent people George Floyd or Breonna Taylorwho literally died at the hands of overzealous cops.”

But at Wednesday’s premiere, the film won a standing ovation.

On the sidelines, D’Souza said Newsweek which has run into several odd problems in distribution and marketing of the film, which it says has so far played two nights to mostly sold-out theaters, grossing about $1.5 million.

Most notably, he accused the US Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network of “intercepting” a $106,000 payment to Salem Media to buy ads for the film.

“Now we have to get our funds back, and it’s going to be a hassle,” he said.

Newsweek has reached out to the Treasury Department and will update this story if they respond.

D’Souza, a former adviser to President Ronald Reagan, is the right’s most successful conservative documentary producer. In 2012, his debut film, 2016: Obama’s Americagrossed $33 million at the box office, enough to become the second most popular political documentary of all time, behind Michael Moore’s. Fahrenheit 9/11.

Partners for the film include YouTube competitor Rumble, which streams the film, and radio host Dan Bongino.

Ahead of the film, Bongino gave a nod to Rumble CEO Chris Pavlovski, saying, “His idea was to create a platform for free expression of ideas… Make no mistake: This guy he has a lot of courage.”

Candidate for US Senate Lake Kari he said Newsweek: “We live in a police state. It’s pretty obvious. Look at January 6th and the two levels of justice. Our rights are slipping away and more people are waking up.”

D’Souza said authorities who claimed to be saving democracy, upholding the rule of law, fighting disinformation and saving lives with the COVID restrictions have abused their power.

A police state “comes to us in disguise. It comes to us marching behind the slogans of virtue,” he said. “The task of this film is to strip away the facade.”

When D’Souza introduced the families of some of those arrested during the January 6, 2021 riots at the U.S. Capitol, the crowd applauded.

Will Pope, who attended the premiere and the riots, and has been charged with several crimes related to the latter, said Newsweek: “Nobody was trying to overthrow the government that day. Most of them are normal people who don’t mean you any harm, and they love America.”

Actor Kevin Sorbo, who played TV’s Hercules in the 1980s and mostly stars in faith-based films like God is not dead today, counted Newsweek: “Free speech has been disappearing fast. That’s the truth, but the truth is kryptonite in Hollywood and Washington, DC”

Former mayor of New York Rudy Giulianiwho faces charges in Fulton County, Georgia, that allege he tried to subvert the will of voters in 2020, similar to the charges against Trump, he said. Newsweek that the media is biased against conservatives.

“The coverage is consistent with the country. A large percentage, through Biden, is becoming fascist,” he said. “The coverage is despicable, shameful, unpatriotic and sometimes supportive of criminal conspiracies, and includes Newsweek.”

Said Fox News personality Leo Terrell, who switched from liberal to conservative in 2016 Newsweek this Police State is a timely film for all Americans, but he added, “Liberals won’t see it, but they should.”

Actor Nick Searcy, who plays a composite F.B.I character in Police Statehe was at the riots on January 6th and made a documentary about it, dubbed Punishment Capitol. he said Newsweek who is working on a sequel.

“The suppression of free speech should concern both sides. The intimidation of everyday Americans can happen to anyone,” he said.