Russians mock US election allegations as Putin teasingly says he supports Harris

Russian commentators on Thursday mocked allegations that Moscow was meddling again in the U.S. presidential election, and President Vladimir Putin appeared to bolster the teasing tone by wryly claiming he supported Vice President Kamala Harris.

On Wednesday, the U.S. Justice Department said the Russian state-owned broadcaster RT is carrying out a covert campaign to influence the American public ahead of the election. Two state media employees were charged, and 10 people and two entities were sanctioned, with Kremlin-run websites seized.

The Justice Department did not identify which candidate the propaganda campaign was meant to boost. But internal strategy notes from participants in the effort released by the Justice Department make clear that former President Donald Trump was the intended beneficiary, even though the candidates’ names were blacked out.

The Kremlin has dismissed previous allegations of interference in U.S. elections, from 2016 and onward, as nonsense. A Foreign Ministry spokesperson vowed to retaliate against U.S. media in Russia.

Margarita Simonyan, head of the state-run broadcaster RT who was sanctioned by the U.S. in the latest allegations, shared a social media post Thursday in which the outlet hit back by saying, “They called from 2016 and want all their tired cliches back.”

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