Stopping the Steal is the newest documentary on HBO and Max to recount Donald Trump’s attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election.

In the days, weeks, month, and sadly, years after the election, Donald Trump is still spewing conspiracy theories about The Big Lie. The fact that he is running for president again is one reason why so many anti-Trump documentaries are coming out this year. From Russia with Lev and #Untruth: The Psychology of Trumpism are among them. The former is an MSNBC documentary and is drawing a good amount of viewers. However, the question is whether or not the people that need to watch these films are watching these films.

How did everything start? Trump was making claims to discredit the election as early as July 2020. It would come to a climax on January 6, 2021, when Congress met to certify the election.

Former U.S. Attorney General William Barr is probably one of the biggest gets of Stopping the Steal. “At 2 in the morning, for him to go out and claim that fraud was underway was very dangerous. I started worrying a lot from then on.” As Barr says, Trump lost exactly where people told him he would. Trump’s way of rallying voters was driving away potential voters. Despite reality, Trump stopped communicating with his advisors and started listening to those on the outside.

Arizona and Georgia were among two of the states drawing a lot of attention. The County Board of Supervisors run the elections in individual Arizona counties. Usually, they operate things with a low profile. It all changed after the election. When Fox News called the election for Arizona, nobody could have predicted Trump supporters would start protesting outside the Maricopa County offices. The fact that elected officials showed up to rile up Trump followers was a sign of things to come on January 6. Obviously, the election would not officially be decided until Saturday when the Biden/Harris ticket won in Georgia. Maricopa County were doxxed and on the receiving end of death threats from Trumpists.

Stephanie Grisham, Trump campaign and White House official: “He knows he lost but he’s a narcissist and his ego will not accept defeat. And when you have people who will so willingly come around you and tell you, you didn’t lose, and the things you want to hear, which he’s a master at–he’s a master of finding these people who will say whatever. And so, that enables him to double down and triple down.”

The Four Seasons Total Landscaping snafu took place in the immediate aftermath. Attorneys started lying on the air about the big lie. Barr described the scene as being like the Mos Eisley Cantina with all the outsiders hanging out. “That’s when $#!+ really hit the fan,” recalls Alyssa Farah Griffin, the White House Director of Strategic Communications in 2020.

What’s surprising about watching the documentary is how some people still believe the election was rigged. It’s difficult to take away anything otherwise from former Arizona representative Mark Finchem or Arizona resident and videographer, Marko Trickovic. Take Sharpiegate, for instance. The Trump campaign sued Arizona over the use of sharpies. The conspiracy theories that came out of the 2020 election are just perplexing. Both Dominion and Smartmatic ended up suing Fox News–and others–over defamation. Anyway, there was so much pressure on the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors to not certify the election. When you watch the interviews, make no mistake that such threats will probably take place again.

As the film points out, a number of attempts to overturn the election in Arizona were tied directly to Trump. Former Arizona House speaker Rusty Bowers recalls the election. He specifically mentions that he does not like bullies. The Trump team proposed that the Arizona House had the power to throw out the Biden electors by way of an arcane law. Bowers refused to call a special session, citing no evidence of fraud. Despite lack of fraud, Finchem went ahead in sponsoring a hearing. Bowers called it a farce. Because Bowers didn’t go along with Trump, people protested outside his house with not-so-nice language.

After three recounts, Trump lost Georgia by 11,779 votes. Trump kept insisting that he won Georgia. He threatened Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger via phone and social media. Trump would not let it go. He lost the election but refused to concede. It was enough that he incited a seditious insurrection on January 6–the date when Congress certifies the presidential election. Georgia Election Operations Manager Gabriel Sterling recalls getting a call from Dominion, saying a contractor has been targeted. Sterling ended up losing his temper in a press conference shortly thereafter. He called on Trump to tell his supporters to not be violent. Alas, we all know what happened next. Trump released even more false claims in a video.

Barr went against Trump by releasing a statement to the AP: “To date, we have not seen fraud on a scale that could have effected a different outcome in the election.” The former attorney general says that Trump was “very resentful.” The fact that the Department of Justice and FBI refused to go along with Trump is the most telling. Barr ended up resigning after the state certification of the vote on December 14, 2020.

Georgian legislators held a hearing. It was basically rehashing more false claims. Trump refused to accept the facts and reality. Raffensperger debunks everything in interviews. The Georgian investigation only found four instances where dead people voted–not 4,000 like the Trump campaign suggests. Raffensperger was on the phone with Trump and then-White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows. Trump had seen the Fox News interview and was still living in denial about the results. “At the end of the day, we had to make sure we stood firm on the facts,” Raffensperger says. “We had to follow the law, follow the Constitution. Was there pressure? Yes? Was it uncomfortable? Yes.”

Former vice president Mike Pence is not interviewed on camera. A few members of his staff are on camera–including Chief of Staff Marc Short and counsel Greg Jacob. They mention their meetings with Trump attorney Dr. John Eastman. Pence pushed back against Eastman. No vice president in U.S. history has ever used their power to reject an electoral vote. Why would Pence want to become the first? Trump was still going at it on January 5 to get Pence to reject electoral votes. Trump released a statement saying that Pence was an agreement–an outright lie.

Barr on what happened on January 6:

“I turned on the TV, and I saw what was going on. I was completely outraged. I felt he did precipitate the whole affair, and I thought that was outrageous, and his treatment of the vice president was despicable.”

Stopping the Steal looks back over the weeks and months leading up to January 6 and is a reminder that nobody is above the law. Following his arrest, Trump was still living in a world of denial and continues to spread The Big Lie. The difference now is that he is no longer being surrounded by people of character. He now surrounds himself with those who will deny the election results.

DIRECTOR: Dan Reed
FEATRING: William Barr, Marc Short, Alyssa Farah Griffin, Greg Jacob, lint Hickman, Steve Gallardo, Bill Gates, Adrian Fontes, Stephanie Grisham, Mark Brnovich, Mark Finchem, Rusty Bowers, Brad Raffensperger, Gabriel Sterling, John Eastman, Jacob Chansley, Marko Trickovic, Ronald Hansen, Patricia Murphy

Stopping the Steal premiered September 17, 2024 on HBO and is available to stream on Max. Grade: 4/5

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