Former President Donald Trump praised the hit movie Sound of Freedom as "incredible" following a special screening he held at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey.
After watching the film with guests, including the film's star Jim Caviezel and former Homeland Security agent Tim Ballard, whose life the movie is based on, Trump told the audience he enjoyed the "great movie" and applauded it for becoming a surprise box office smash.
The screening at Bedminster arrives as Sound of Freedom approaches revenues of $100 million at the box office. The movie has been praised by conservative figures but has also received a host of negative reviews from critics. It is also accused of pandering to supporters of QAnon, the radical conspiracy theory that asserted Trump would expose a secret cabal of high-profile satanic child abusers as president, and then order their arrest and executions.
Trump, the front runner in the 2024 GOP presidential primary, has also faced accusations of continuing to pander to QAnon supporters amid his latest bid for the White House, including frequently boosting or resharing QAnon accounts via his Truth Social social media platform.
"Thank you all so much, that was incredible," Trump said following the Wednesday night screening of the film.
"Jim, that was unbelievable," Trump added after turning to Caviezel, who portrays Ballard and his attempts to rescue children from child-sex trafficking gangs in Colombia in Sound of Freedom.
"It's something that I'm not sure if you're supposed to enjoy or learn, it's a combination, but that was a great movie," Trump added. "Now I understand why it's doing so well.
"It's setting records by the way, it's eating the biggest movies out there, they have some of the big summer blockbusters and this is knocking the socks off of them. So that's pretty good.
"I hope everybody had a fantastic time, I did, It's an incredible inspiration," Trump added. "You guys do something very special."
Angel Studios, the network behind the film, has been contacted for comment via email.
In a statement ahead of the screening, Trump criticized media outlets like Rolling Stone, The Washington Post, CNN, and The Guardian that have "trashed the film and mocked the millions of movie-goers who purchased tickets to screenings," as well as others that have refused to review it.
Both Caviezel, best known for playing Jesus in Mel Gibson's 2004 movie The Passion of the Christ, and Ballard have dismissed accusations that Sound of Freedom is trying to appeal to QAnon supporters.
"Where's the QAnon doctrine being spewed in the film and in the script?" Ballard asked on Fox & Friends. "I have no idea because this is actually what it looks like. This is what happened. I was there, and several others were there to confirm, so this is just some other agenda."
Caviezel, who has long been accused of being a QAnon advocate and who spoke at a QAnon convention in 2021, said that he was not aware of the conspiracy theory movement while filming Sound of Freedom in 2018.
"It has nothing to do with our film," Caviezel said during a July 11 episode of The Charlie Kirk Show. "But it's really interesting that they pointed to this immediately and said 'That guy's one of them, he's bad.'"
