A far-right Trump supporter claimed she had fallen victim to Russian propaganda
Laura Lummer, a well-known far-right blogger and supporter of Donald Trump, has publicly admitted that for some time she spread and believed Russian propaganda narratives.
According to the blogger, after she was banned from social media, the Russian TV channel Russia Today reached out to her with invitations to appear on their shows.
“When I was banned from social media platforms and the election was rigged because the major social media platforms wouldn’t give me access, Russia Today started reaching out to me and asking me to appear on their show. I never took any money from RT, but I thought, ‘Wow, my country’s government isn’t standing up for me, but RT is letting me talk about these issues,’” Lumer noted.
Lumer added that at the time, she had drawn the wrong conclusions about the role of Russian propaganda.
“And then you start thinking, ‘Maybe they care more about freedom of speech than my own country does,’” she said.
The blogger also stated that, influenced by the media environment, she repeated narratives that she now considers propaganda.
“You make pro-Putin comments, and I made a lot of those comments,” she said.
Separately, Lumer admitted that for a time she had a critical attitude toward Ukraine and spread corresponding claims:
“Now, when I see… ‘We need to “denazify” Ukraine,’ ‘We must continue our brutal war against Ukraine’… I think, ‘Wow, we fell for Russian propaganda.’ And I fell for it myself.”
The media often describe Laura Lumer as a far-right provocateur who has repeatedly found herself at the center of scandals due to her radical statements and social media bans.
In her latest statement, she also questioned certain narratives regarding Russian influence on political processes in the U.S. and the impact of information warfare on right-wing movements.
She made these remarks in a video blog posted on June 17.
As a reminder, attempts to circumvent the blocking of Kremlin-linked media outlets have been documented in France. Ksenia Fedorova, the former head of RT France, has begun appearing on conservative news shows in France. This is seen as a way to continue spreading Russian information narratives despite EU sanctions and restrictions.
As a reminder, the European Union has been discussing the possible appointment of a special mediator for contacts with Russia, and Angela Merkel is among the leading candidates. Mario Draghi and Alexander Stubb are also being considered alongside her, but no final decision has been made yet due to disagreements among diplomats. Some member states view such an initiative as a risky concession to the Kremlin, while others see it as a pragmatic tool amid the diminishing role of the U.S. as the primary mediator.
