Arizona AG's office proves there's no pony for MAGA cult under the manure of '2000 Mules'

Former President Ronald Reagan used to tell a joke that shined a light on individuals with unrealistic – if not delusional – expectations about one thing or another.

There are several renditions. A slimmed down version has a father taking his son to a psychiatrist in order to treat the boy for his unbreakably starry-eyed sense of optimism.

The psychiatrist decides to take the boy to a room piled to the ceiling with horse manure thinking it would repulse him. Instead, the boy climbs to the top of the pile and starts digging.

When the psychiatrist asks what he’s doing the boy says, “With all this manure, there must be a pony in here somewhere!”

The believers of the Big Lie about the 2020 election are like that.

Fundraising with election conspiracy

The sham audit paid for by Arizona taxpayers was meant to prove that Donald Trump had won the election and that there had been massive election fraud.

Even with the incompetent Cyber Ninjas making their best effort, however, the audit (like many others) showed just the opposite.

Ridiculous claims about a “stolen” election have been debunked and then debunked again, which hasn’t stopped Trump or his groupies, like Kari Lake, the Republican candidate for Arizona governor, from repeating the lie.

At the Capitol: '2000 Mules' event was long on claims, short on evidence

Often with some plea for a donations.

These aren’t just politicians looking for votes. These are con artists looking for easy marks.

Then there is the conspiracy movie “2000 Mules.”

Facts do not faze the brainwashed

The film makes claims of ballot harvesting and stuffed drop boxes and high tech sleuthing and offers itself up as proof that the election was stolen. It wasn’t. And the movie’s claims have been investigated and debunked. Again and again.

But the allegations are repeated anyway by Trump and his worshipful clan.

Republican Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich took the fraud claims seriously enough to ask the people behind “2000 Mules” to offer him proof so that he potentially could prosecute anyone involved in criminal behavior.

As reported recently by Jeremy Duda of Axios Phoenix, however, Brnovich received nothing.

Zilch.

Duda reports that the AG’s office requested evidence four times, hoping to receive proof of the claims made in the movie.

“We have continually asked for information that has not been provided,” Ryan Anderson, a spokesperson for the AG’s office, told him.

Sorry, but there is no pony underneath

Maricopa County Recorder Steven Richer, also a Republican, has known all along that the election was not stolen. He has been defending the safety and security of the county’s election process from the beginning, often having to deal with harassment and death threats from MAGA cranks.

In response to Duda’s article Richer tweeted on his personal account:

“It’s no Theranos, but it’s still pretty impressive how much money they scammed. Tally: 0 submissions to Arizona law enforcement, 0 indictments nationwide from the film, 0 mules named, 0 nonprofits named, 0 logic to the claims as Arizona elections work.”

Richer is correct, of course. Though I’d guess by now he doesn’t expect to change anyone’s mind.

That ship has sailed.

The men and women who’ve been brainwashed into believing in election fraud cannot be convinced by facts. They will not be moved by Brnovich’s office speaking to the lack of evidence provided by the filmmakers. They will not be persuaded by audits.

They are very much like the little boy in the joke fancied by President Reagan.

It’s sad, because a movie like “2000 Mules” can produce a heaping pile of foul-smelling manure. And no matter how long or how deep the MAGA cult digs into it, they will not find a pony.

Reach Montini at ed.montini@arizonarepublic.com.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona AG shows there's no pony for MAGA under manure of '2000 Mules'