WATCH: Trump-loving pundit gets grilled for working for Russian state-run media outlet
In the wake of the shuttering of the Kremlin-funded RT America, Tennessee resident Scottie Nell Hughes is wondering why she's receiving so much vitriol on Twitter over her time as an employee of the network working as a journalist.
“I do know that there was so much hate that was being targeted – not only to myself but my colleagues – obviously people that were from other countries, including Russia,” Hughes said in an interview with News4.
“I work with Russians, I don’t work for Russians,” said Hughes, a former CNN contributor who regularly appeared on the network to defend Donald Trump. “Ninety nine percent of (online critics) have never watched the work that I’ve done.”
When asked about the accusations that she works for a Russian propaganda outlet, Hughes replied that her show was "mostly domestic," but that changes when the pandemic broke out and Russia invaded Ukraine. She also claims that the Russian government doesn't tell her what to say.
News4 reports that a look at her past tweets reveals claims that Ukraine is harboring Nazis -- a common talking point emanating from Putin apologists.
“Putin has been heavily criticized for lying to his own people. Saying that the purpose of invading the Ukraine is to free them from the Nazis,” asked News4's Jeremy Finley. “You are tweeting about Nazis. This is the Russian narrative.”
“One tweet, and I was tweeting out the truth,” Hughes said. “There are bad groups, there are white nationalists that do live in this country. That is not a reflection on an entire population. Same thing here, though. To say that doesn’t exist, that’s false.”
Watch the full interview below:
FULL INTERVIEW: Jeremy Finley interviews Scottie Nell Hughes. www.youtube.com