ABSTRACT
This chapter examines how RT reported the Trump-Russia story across a variety of its outputs. Its main focus is on outputs giving in-depth analysis and engagement with stories being reported: two regular 30-minute discussion shows, and the website's op-ed section. There are mocking comments about RT itself being a threat to US democracy and about a Russian 'bogeyman' being used to hide the divisiveness of Hillary Clinton's own candidacy. One of RT's consistently favoured themes is that of Western hypocrisy, and its Russiagate coverage made clear the US democracy was already fundamentally defective. Historical examples were often cited as evidence that the contemporary allegations themselves formed part of a conspiracy. In RT’s conspiratorial reading of the Trump-Russia story, the main villains were not always clearly and consistently articulated but conformed to certain patterns.
