“What if the goal of the Democratic party is to steal the most valuable thing the world has ever produced?” asks Dinesh D’Souza in the trailer for his newest film, Hillary’s America. “What if their plan is to steal — America?”
It’s a pretty cool question, and would make a great tagline for something like a live action reboot of Carmen Sandiego, but unfortunately, that’s not what Hillary’s America is. Hillary’s America is kind of a documentary in the same world as D’Souza’s film 2016: Obama’s America, which was so troubling that, more than most other flawed pieces of art, it deserves to be labeled “problematic.”
Hillary’s America purports to uncover the heinous origins of the Democratic party, painting its members as slave owners and haters of civil rights, which is maybe partly true, but also true of most white people of those respective eras. (Truly, America’s history is ugly.) To make these points, D’Souza uses highly produced recreations of these events, going so far as to show a lynching.
D’Souza also recreates scenes from his time in prison in 2014, which he served due to committing campaign finance fraud. “All crime is about stealing,” D’Souza says in a voiceover as he’s seen talking to hardened criminals, probably a perfect representation of his time spent in a “community confinement center,” during which he was allowed to work during the day while he lived in the center at night. This man has spent time on the inside; he knows the hard truth.
Watch the trailer below.