‘Stopping the Steal’ examines Trump’s attempt to subvert 2020 election, and what it means for 2024

As a film enthusiast with a keen interest in American politics and history, I must say that “Stopping the Steal” is a compelling and essential documentary for anyone seeking to understand the events leading up to and following the 2020 presidential election. With its first-hand accounts from those who were there, it provides an unparalleled glimpse into the actions and motivations of key players on both sides of the controversy.

It’s quite a challenge to persuade people to view a documentary on the Great Deception, also known as the Big Lie. After all, who would willingly revisit such a distressing period in American politics, when we are actively shaping a potentially less disastrous future?

Although its name suggests otherwise, HBO’s “Stopping the Steal” is equally about our future as it is about the election that led to Joe Biden becoming president and Donald Trump embarking on a crusade. The 90-minute film, airing at 9 p.m. Tuesday on HBO, delves into the extent and authenticity of Trump’s attempts to alter the election outcome by sharing personal experiences from those who witnessed it firsthand.

The combined accounts of ex-Trump appointees, staff members, and GOP officials who were involved in secret work before and after the election, depict a vivid image of Trump’s audacious plan to manipulate the election results and the efforts required to thwart him and his supporters from achieving success.

Under the direction of Dan Reed (“The Truth vs. Alex Jones”), “Stopping the Steal” transports viewers back to July 2020, a time when the President’s approval ratings were dwindling and the election was imminent. By late summer, as Alyssa Farah Griffin, who served as White House director of strategic communications and assistant to the president in 2020, points out, President Trump began preparing excuses if he should lose the election. The film then transitions to a summer press conference where the former president declared, “These elections will be fraudulent. They’ll be fixed or rigged.

Starting from the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection, the movie delves into the sequential events detailing Donald Trump’s efforts to keep hold of the presidency, regardless of the consequences. Familiar news items – such as Trump’s somewhat menacing call to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger asking him to “find” votes for him and Trump’s personal admissions that he recognized he had lost to Biden – gain a fresh perspective through the narratives of those who thwarted Trump’s questionable schemes.

Until the election, it was possible to influence him by appealing to his personal interests: “Mr. President, this isn’t good for you – it will harm you,” argued former Attorney General William Barr, who served under Trump. This approach worked because it capitalized on his self-interest and helped maintain order within boundaries.

According to Barr, Trump launched a “damaging” crusade that plunged to unprecedented depths of depravity in the hours following the projection that Biden had won the election. He adds, “At 2 in the morning, he held a press conference and declared fraud was occurring. This action was extremely perilous. From that point on, I began to worry greatly.

According to former Trump campaign and White House official Stephanie Grisham, when the president continued to claim that the election was fraudulent, his team probably understood it wasn’t true. However, they went along with his claims rather than risking his wrath. As Grisham puts it, “I can assure you that anyone who was around him at the time, even if they doubted what he said internally, would have agreed with him publicly, saying something like ‘Yes sir, it was stolen.’

The movie compares Grisham’s stories to videos showing Trump and his associates like Rudy Giuliani, Jenna Ellis, and Sidney Powell making allegations about election fraud, such as tampering with ballots by workers, voting by undocumented immigrants, and deceased individuals, as well as claims that the Dominion Voting Systems’ electronic ballot machines were manipulated.

In reality, none of it was accurate, but they persisted in using regional authorities in crucial battleground regions like Arizona and Georgia nonetheless. As former Speaker of the Arizona House of Representatives, Rusty Bowers, puts it, “I supported Trump all along… then came the claim that he was being cheated.

In this scenario, Bowers was subjected to significant pressure from the president and Giuliani to support an illicit plan aimed at swapping the state’s electors for ones that would vote for Trump. Looking back, Bowers describes a face-to-face encounter with Giuliani, where he inquired about evidence of election fraud. According to his account, Giuliani claimed to have the proof but then admitted, “Rudy, do you have the proof? Yeah, yeah!” It was then mentioned that the evidence had been left behind at their hotel.

Similar to numerous others who rejected supporting unfounded claims, Bowers faced doxing and threats from hordes of Trump’s backers. The movie underscores that Bowers belongs to the group of Republican representatives who adhered to their values, frequently at a high personal price.

As a die-hard supporter of President Trump during the 2020 elections, I proudly stood by his side, believing he was doing an exceptional job. In a film, I express my sentiments by saying, “President Trump did a fantastic job, and I was right there alongside him.” During our conversation, he urged me, “You’ll be the most admired man in America if you just say there’s fraud or uncover some fraud.” However, I didn’t yield to his request, but neither did I delve into the investigation of the so-called fake electors scheme.

In the movie, other characters took significant risks to uphold democracy. This group included Raffensperger, members of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors like Clint Hickman and Bill Gates, and Georgia Election Operations Manager Gabriel Sterling. Additionally, Marc Short, who served as Vice President Mike Pence’s chief of staff at the time, provides a compelling perspective on the volatile situation his former boss faced.

As a movie buff, I can’t help but notice some familiar faces among the film characters who continue to peddle the so-called Big Lie as the truth. One of them is John Eastman, Trump’s legal advisor and the architect behind the insurrection. Another character that stands out is Jacob Chansley, also known as the “QAnon Shaman.” You might recall seeing him on January 6th, dressed in a furry horned helmet, face painted in red, white, and blue, and without a shirt. I won’t quote his lines here, but trust me, he was quite the spectacle.

In simpler terms, John Grisham stated that the events of January 6th are akin to a movie trailer. It serves as a warning of what could potentially unfold, indicating that with Donald Trump, things may go further than you anticipate.

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2024-09-17 22:02