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DINESH D’SOUZA MOVIE ‘2000 SRI LANKA’S MULES’ HITS LIKE A TORNADO In Less Than 12 Hours, “2000 Mules” NEXT Grosses More Than One Million Dollars on Locals and Rumble TEST In response to acute food and energy shortages and sharply rising inflation, Sri Lankans took to the streets this summer and ousted the strongman whom they had elected just two and a half years ago. They now have an opportunity to craft a new social contract, but only if they act fast. WASHINGTON, DC – In a win for democracy, mass protests in Sri Lanka recently led to the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa. A strongman who won popularity for overseeing the end of Sri Lanka’s civil war in 2009 (while his older brother, Mahinda, was president), Gotabaya was elected in November 2019 and promised to safeguard national security and deliver
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Sales of Dinesh D’Souza’s movie on Locals and Rumble would place the movie in the estimated box office top ten for movies released during it’s first weekend
LONGBOAT KEY, Fla., -- Dinesh D’Souza’s new movie “2000 Mules,” which launched on Saturday, May 7, 2022, grossed more than one million dollars in less than twelve hours on the video streaming platform Rumble and its subscription-based platform, Locals. The movie’s gross sales on Rumble and Locals, which began that Saturday at noon, were good enough to put “2000 Mules” in the estimated box office top ten for the weekend of May 6th to May 8th. prosperity. He failed miserably. Despite allegations of corruption, war crimes, and attacks on journalists, the Rajapaksa government had a powerful mandate, which was reinforced nine months later when the brothers’ party, Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (the Sri Lanka People’s Front), won a two-thirds majority in Parliament. Yet during his short tenure, the Rajapaksas drove the country into bankruptcy, food insecurity, and spiraling inflation. Gotabaya announced his candidacy just days after the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings, promising a strong response to terrorism. In the months that
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followed, newspapers’ and radio stations’ frenzied coverage heightened people’s fear of Muslims (who comprise 10% of the population), and attacks on them increased. Gotabaya capitalized on this environment, portraying himself as a defender of the Sinhala-Buddhist majority who would transform Sri Lanka into a Singapore of the Indian Ocean. The clergy, media, military, political elites, and local business tycoons all adopted the same rhetoric, tying their fortunes to his. The Buddhist clergy, for example, continuously reaffirmed their trust in Gotabaya throughout his presidency. In return, he established a Buddhist Advisory Council of notable monks to help guide his policy decisions. Even in January of this year, as families began rationing food, and as the central bank sold its remaining gold reserves to pay back an international bond, the Buddhist establishment spoke up for Gotabaya, arguing that he was still the only leader who could save the country. By March, hospitals were reporting shortages of essential medicines, and two elderly men died while queuing for gasoline. Unable to pay for fuel to produce electricity, the government instituted rolling blackouts that culminated in 13-hour power cuts at the height of a suffocating heat wave. That was the final straw. Protesters stormed the streets and demanded the Rajapaksas’ resignations.
▶ SEE SRI LANKA, PAGE 15
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“Supporting creative independence is core to our values, and we are thrilled to offer creators a new way to distribute and sell movies independently,” said Locals President Assaf Lev. “The success of ‘2000 Mules’ on Rumble is a great sign for creators who do not want to be silenced or censored for their speech,” said Dinesh D’Souza. You can find Dinesh D’Souza’s Locals community at: dinesh.locals.com You can view the trailer for 2000 Mules at: rumble.com/v1238uc2000-mules-trailer.html Rumble is a high-growth neutral video platform that is creating the rails and independent infrastructure designed to be immune to cancel culture. Rumble’s mission is to restore the Internet to its roots by making it free and open once again. A d d i t i o n a l l y, the company announced in December 2021 the execution of a definitive business com-
▶ SEE 2000 MULES, PAGE 14