Donald Trump is renting out an Iowa movie theater and is providing tickets to a screening of “13 Hours,” a dramatization of the 2012 Benghazi terror attack that is to be released nationwide on Friday.
Trump’s Iowa state co-chair Tana Goertz told Trump supporters they could get free tickets to the screening at the Cobblestone Theater just outside of Des Moines, according to a source who attended Trump’s debate watch party in Iowa Thursday night.
The Benghazi attack, in which four Americans were killed, was one of the most notable incidents during Hillary Clinton’s tenure as secretary of state, and the film has been praised by conservatives and was mentioned during Thursday’s debate by Texas Sen. Ted Cruz.
The screening was first reported by The Des Moines Register.
Those involved with “13 Hours” have said the movie steers clear of any partisan trappings. Neither Clinton nor President Barack Obama are mentioned, and director Michael Bay, who has made a career out of action-packed flicks like “Transformers,” insisted last year that there is “no political agenda” in “13 Hours.” Contractors at the center of the story have also said that they wanted the movie to be apolitical.
But the film includes a detail that fuels much of the conservative anger over Benghazi. In one scene, the contractors are ordered to “stand down” rather than provide assistance to the beleaguered consulate. Congressional investigators concluded that no “stand down” order was ever issued, but the contractors say otherwise.