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Documentary director Ken Burns, known for his high-profile films on quintessential American subjects like “Jazz” and “Baseball,” said in a new interview that former President Donald Trump and his allies have damaged the country by promoting the “big lie” of widespread electoral fraud. – and worse yet, they made money out of it.
Burns said that the media environment allows people to earn significant sums from false public commentary, and he contrasted such misinformation with his precise and complex stories about major events and themes in American history.
“There are a lot of people who make a lot of money with [lies], and it’s exploited – and the big lie is part of the combination of that, ”says Burns, whose new three-part film“ Hemingway ”is released on April 5.
“If you look at the big lie, the ex-president’s team raised some $ 250 million between the election and the nomination just to support something that just isn’t true,” he adds. -he.
“ You can’t say we’re in a post-fact place ”
He cited the defense made by former Trump attorney Sidney Powell in a court filing last week that “no reasonable person” could believe his false statements about the supposed role of the Dominion voting systems in the electoral fraud. Dominion is suing Powell, former Trump attorney and former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani, and Fox News for defamation over claims the voting machine company rigged President Joe Biden’s election.
“You can’t say we’re in a post-fact. It’s in the financial best interests of a lot of people to promote this,” Burns says. “You can’t do it. You have to keep telling the truth.”
Just last week, Trump defended the rioters who attacked the Capitol on January 6, saying they posed a “zero threat” and that law enforcement was “persecuting” them. The remarks line up with false claims about electoral fraud repeated by Trump in the months following the loss of the November election, including a public speech at the end of last month at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Orlando where he said the vote had been “rigged”.
Trump and the Republican Party raised about $ 255 million over a period of more than eight weeks after the Nov. 3 election, according to a New York Times report. Additionally, those indicted in the Capitol Riot increased their political donations by 75% in the five weeks following the election, compared to the five-week period leading up to it, NBC News reported.
A US intelligence report released earlier this month said the false allegations of electoral fraud propagated by Trump would “almost certainly” fuel further acts of domestic terrorism this year.
Burns spoke to Andy Serwer, editor of Yahoo Finance, in an episode of “Influencers with Andy Serwer,” a series of weekly interviews with leaders in business, politics and entertainment.
A two-time Oscar nominee, Burns has directed films for four decades on a range of subjects from “The Vietnam War” and “The Civil War” to “Country Music” and “Brooklyn Bridge”. In addition to the upcoming film “Hemingway”, Burns will release “Muhammad Ali” later this year, a four-part documentary about the legendary boxer and social activist.
For years he lived and worked in the small town of Walpole, New Hampshire.
Speaking to Yahoo Finance, Burns said he made his films for large audiences and intentionally left out his political preferences.
“I’m in the business of trying to tell stories,” he says. “I hope they’re good. And I talk to everyone. I don’t show off my politics in my films.”
“I have road signs as the elections approach,” he adds. “The people of my small town know how I feel.”
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