‘2000 Mules’: Documentary’s Message Resonates With Voters

The new documentary “2000 Mules,” which investigates evidence of widespread cheating in the 2020 presidential election, is hitting home with voters who have seen the film.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that 77% of those Likely U.S. voters who have seen “2000 Mules” say the movie strengthened their conviction that there was systematic and widespread election fraud in the 2020 election. Only 19% of those who have seen the documentary say their belief in election fraud was weakened. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

So far, only 15% of voters have seen “2000 Mules,” the movie by conservative activist Dinesh D’Souza that premiered last month at former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort. Nineteen percent (19%) of Republicans, 14% of Democrats and 11% of voters not affiliated with either major party report having watched “2000 Mules.”

Awareness of the new documentary is much more widespread, with 41% of voters saying they’ve heard about “2000 Mules.” That includes 50% of Republicans, 36% of Democrats and 38% of unaffiliated voters.

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The survey of 1,000 U.S. Likely Voters was conducted on June 1-2, 2022 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.

Among voters who haven’t yet seen “2000 Mules,” 70% are familiar with the film’s subject, involving claims of widespread, coordinated voter fraud in the 2020 election, sufficient to change the overall outcome. That includes 36% who are Very Familiar with claims widespread fraud in the 2020 election. Seventy-five percent (73%) of Republicans, 63% of Democrats and 74% of unaffiliated voters who haven’t seen “2000 Mules” are familiar with the claims at the heart of the documentary.

Among voters who have seen “2000 Mules,” 85% of Republicans, 68% of Democrats and 77% of unaffiliated voters  say the movie strengthened their conviction that there was systematic and widespread election fraud in the 2020 election.

Among voters who have seen the documentary, 78% say they would recommend “2000 Mules” to others regardless of whether or not they share their political beliefs. That includes 84% of Republicans, 73% of Democrats and 74% of unaffiliated voters who have seen the film.

Even among those who haven’t seen “2000 Mules” yet, 57% believe it is important for the public to be aware of topics covered in the movie, including 40% who believe public awareness of the subject is Very Important. Only 17% think public awareness of the topics covered in “2000 Mules” is Not At All Important.

Among voters who haven’t seen “2000 Mules,” those earning more than $200,000 annually are most familiar with the claims about election fraud covered in the movie, while those earning between $30,000 and $50,000 are most likely to say public awareness of the documentary’s subject matter is Very Important.

The 2022 midterm elections are now 158 days away, and Republicans have an eight-point lead in their bid to recapture control of Congress.

Most voters are concerned about “hate speech” on the Internet, but are divided about whether it can be suppressed without violating First Amendment free speech protections.

Additional information from this survey and a full demographic breakdown are available to the public, as well as Platinum Members.

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