RT, or Russia Today, the overseas propaganda network of Vladimir Putin, is not known for its fealty to reality or basic standards of journalism. As The New Republic and Tablet contributor Michael Moynihan has documented, whether it’s attempting to obscure the mass murder of Syrian civilians by Russian ally Bashar al-Assad, featuring conspiracy theorists as experts, claiming 9/11 was an inside job, suggesting the Rothschilds were behind the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, or refusing to cover anti-gay violence in Russia, RT uses slick production values to sell Kremlin misinformation.
But on Tuesday, it aired a segment on Hillary Clinton called “Obvi-Illuminati,” that was unhinged even by RT’s exceedingly low standards. In it, anchor Lori Harfenist claimed that Clinton was the “Illuminati candidate,” and proved it by pointing to the logo of a technology company working with her campaign, which vaguely resembles the mythical group’s symbol.
Harfenist then threw in some anti-Semitism for good measure, noting that the alleged Illuminati tech outlet’s parent company has a Hebrew name. “Not only do they have an Illuminati logo,” she intoned, “they also have backers who speak Hebrew.” Because of course any self-respecting global conspiracy to undo democracy and repress the masses must be Jewish.
Watch the entire bizarre segment below:
UPDATE: After the clip began drawing negative attention on social media, RT pulled the video from their YouTube channel. Fortunately, we saved a copy, and replaced it above.
By Yair Rosenberg, Tablet
