Dinesh D'Souza to Compare Trump With Lincoln in Upcoming Film

D’Souza acknowledges that the optics of a pro-Trump documentary will be deemed suspicious in some circles, given the president pardoned him May 31 for violating campaign finance laws.

In a move that could raise the suspicions of his detractors, recently pardoned Dinesh D’Souza tells The Hollywood Reporter that his next movie will liken Donald Trump to Abraham Lincoln, including a poster that morphs an image of the two U.S. presidents.

The poster, unveiled here for the first time, features a U.S. flag, images of slavery, the Civil War, modern-day university riots, Lincoln's and Trump’s face combined as one and the upcoming film’s title: Death of a Nation.

The poster also includes D’Souza’s name and that of Gerald R. Molen, advertised as the Academy Award-winning producer of the two Steven Spielberg films Schindler’s List and Jurassic Park.

“Death of a Nation draws a provocative analogy between Lincoln and Trump,” D’Souza tells THR. “Not that they’re the same people, but that they’ve fallen into the same situation. Not since 1865 have Democrats so dramatically refused to accept the outcome of a presidential election.”

D’Souza acknowledges that the optics of a pro-Trump documentary will be deemed suspicious in some circles, given the president pardoned him May 31 for violating campaign finance laws.

“We’ve been working on the film for more than a year and commissioned the artwork two months ago. Trump had no inkling of the art or the theme of the movie when he pardoned me,” says D’Souza.

D’Souza spent eight months partially confined, paid a $30,000 fine and was still serving five years of probation before he was pardoned for using a couple of straw donors to give more than the legal limit to the campaign of a friend who was running for U.S. senator in New York.

Defenders, including liberal attorney Alan Dershowitz, said the punishment did not fit the crime and they suggested the Obama administration went overboard because D'Souza's first film, 2016: Obama’s America, was critical of President Barack Obama, and Trump agreed.

“The left is screaming about my pardon more than all of Trump’s other pardons put together,” says D’Souza.

After Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11, 2016: Obama’s America is the second-most successful political documentary in history, and D’Souza’s subsequent two films also did extremely well relative to most documentaries.

His fourth film, Death of a Nation, was shot in the Czech Republic and Germany, including scenes in Courtroom 600 at the Palace of Justice, where the Nuremberg Trials took place. Actor Pavel Kriz plays Adolf Hitler in scenes filmed at Zeppelin Field where Nazi rallies took place in the 1930s and early 1940s.

Beyond the Trump-Lincoln connection, the film explores the roots of fascism and racism.

“The left has been playing these cards against conservatives for a decade. We explore if the fascist-racist tail should be pinned on the Republican elephant or the Democrat donkey,” says D’Souza.

“The four legs of the progressive agenda are well entrenched into society — academia, media, entertainment and culture,” says Molen. “The right, by contrast, is and always has been the anti-fascist party.”

Quality Flix is set to release Death of a Nation in 1,000 theaters Aug. 3, while DVD, Blu-ray and streaming distribution will be handled by Quality Flix and Universal Pictures Home Entertainment.