Dinesh D’Souza is an author and filmmaker. He is known for making apologetics points and writing patriotic manifestos and political tell-alls. D’Souza’s well-known books include, “The Big Lie,” “What’s So Great About America” and “What’s So Great About Christianity.” His film documentaries include “2016: Obama’s America,” “America: Imagine the World Without Her,” as well as “Hillary’s America: The Secret History of the Democratic Party.”

Visit DineshDSouza.com.

 

Preeminent conservative voice, Dinesh D’Souza, spoke with Houston Baptist University’s Dr. Jerry Johnston, VP of Innovation and Strategic Marketing for HBU, about the state of politics and civility in America today.

D’Souza recalls his time as a Reaganite in the 1980s. “In the 80s and early 90s, American politics was kind of a gentleman’s fight. We agreed on goals like prosperity and strong communities, but disagreed on means. All of that really broke down,” D’Souza says.

Since then, D’Souza has experienced and witnessed retribution and monitoring comparable to those of communist societies for openly criticizing figures including Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.

“The government began to deploy the instruments of the state against their critics. This represented a breakdown in civility that created a declaration of war between the two sides. That’s how we got Trump,” he says. “The left is operating like gangsters, so we kind of need a mob boss on our side. I see Trump as the necessary response to this kind of craziness that’s going on.”

Alignment with the views of the left has become the stock of much journalistic messaging. “The media is only too willing to subordinate themselves to the climate,” D’Souza says. “They’re not really journalists. These are partisans masquerading as journalists. Twitter is the only unfiltered way to reach the American people uninterrupted by the interpretive lens put on.”

The vitriol directed at the presidential administration doesn’t necessarily need a basis, such as allegations of detrimental involvement with Russia, D’Souza concludes.

“I think it’s a very serious coup attempt underway,” D’Souza says. “I think the left’s view is, ‘We have to get him on something.’ It doesn’t matter if it’s plausible or not. Make it stick.”

The pull for control of American minds and American resources is palpable.

“There’s a death struggle between the wealth-creators, or the entrepreneurs, and progressivism,” D’Souza says. “That’s what the fight’s about; everything else is disguised. To my mind, we’re not living in a normal time.”