Skip to main content
  • Online media
  • Tariffs
  • Epstein
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • RSS
  • Take Action
  • Search
  • Donate

Media Matters for America

  • News & Analysis
  • Research & Studies
  • Audio & Video
  • Archives

Media Matters for America

  • Nav
  • Search
  • News & Analysis
  • Research & Studies
  • Audio & Video
  • Archives
  • Online media
  • Tariffs
  • Epstein
  • Take Action
  • Search
  • Donate
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • RSS
Trump sitting in front of papers

Ceci Freed / Media Matters

The Hill pushed what it called a debunked conspiracy theory at least 9 times

Written by Zachary Pleat

Published 11/25/19 11:32 AM EST

After Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) falsely suggested that Ukraine was responsible for hacking the Democratic National Committee during the 2016 election, The Hill repeated it on Twitter at least nine times -- despite already reporting two days earlier that the claim was both false and part of a Russian disinformation effort.

On the November 24 edition of Fox News Sunday, Kennedy was asked, “Who do you believe was responsible for hacking the DNC and Clinton campaign computers, their emails? Was it Russia, or Ukraine?” He responded: “I don’t know, nor do you, nor do any of us.” After anchor Chris Wallace reminded him that “the entire intelligence community says it was Russia,” Kennedy responded, “Right, but it could also be Ukraine.”

Former White House Russia expert Fiona Hill explained in her testimony to the House impeachment inquiry that “this is a fictional narrative that has been perpetrated and propagated by the Russian security services themselves.” After President Donald Trump pushed the lie again in a Friday Fox & Friends interview, an article from The Hill noted that this was a “debunked claim” and a “conspiracy theory,” and included Hill’s statement that Russia’s security services had pushed the lie themselves. The New York Times also reported on Friday that the American intelligence community has briefed senators that “Russia had engaged in a yearslong campaign to essentially frame Ukraine as responsible for Moscow’s own hacking of the 2016 election.”

Despite The Hill’s own acknowledgement of the facts, the outlet published at least nine tweets repeating Kennedy’s claim without explicitly noting it was false or a lie being spread by the Russian government.

Information warfare expert Molly McKew pointed to this tweet from The Hill as a “brief case study in how the Hill amplifies lies and misinformation.” Indeed, The Hill has demonstrated a pattern of uncritically passing on misinformation from Trump.

The Latest

  1. Fox News since Monday: 85 minutes talking about Sydney Sweeney, 3 minutes talking about Epstein

    Research/Study 07/31/25 2:12 PM EDT

  2. Charlie Kirk: “I do think that there is a direct correlation between someone's testosterone and their politics”

    Video & Audio 07/31/25 1:15 PM EDT

  3. Fox News shields EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin as he promotes the most destructive climate rollback in EPA history

    Article 07/31/25 12:45 PM EDT

  4. Newsmax's Greg Kelly tells Charlie Kirk: “A lot of folks think that you're going to be leading this country some day”

    Video & Audio 07/31/25 9:25 AM EDT

  5. Laura Ingraham: “When imports go down, that's actually good”

    Video & Audio 07/30/25 7:41 PM EDT

Pagination

  • Current page 1
  • …
  • Next page ››

In This Article

  • The Hill

    thehill_mmfatag
  • Trump impeachment

    Trump Impeachment Inquiry
  • National security

Related

  1. The Hill can’t stop advancing Trump’s lies about the whistleblower

    Article 11/05/19 11:04 AM EST

  2. The Hill 10 times pushed a Trump lie from his press conference on ISIS leader's death

    Article 10/28/19 11:28 AM EDT

  3. Fox News gave new classified email revelation in Hegseth Signal scandal just 40 seconds of airtime

    Article 07/25/25 11:35 AM EDT

Media Matters for America

Sign up for email updates
  • About
  • Contact
  • Corrections
  • Submissions
  • Jobs
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • RSS

© 2025 Media Matters for America

RSS