From 2018
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Alexander Malkevich stood outside the White House on Thursday, braving the 85-degree heat in a skintight long-sleeve shirt with Che Guevara’s face emblazoned on it. Thursday was flag day, as well as the birthdays of Malkevich, Che and President Donald Trump, and he was leading a very small political rally.
Like most of Russia’s efforts to manipulate U.S. politics, the website traffics in content on divisive issues such as promoting secessionist movements in the U.S. — the same kinds of activities that caused a furor when they were exposed as having influenced the 2016 presidential election.
Malkevich’s hopes of generating a similar furor now, two years later, seem to have degenerated into self-parody, however. Instead of actors with signs and musicians playing symphony music, as Malkevich had envisioned, he stood among tourists and “Free Tibet” protesters with only his business partner, Alex Dolgonos.
“It’s hot out here, but it’s much hotter in some of those rooms we’ve been kicked out of,” Malkevich said.
Russia’s information war has taken a variety of forms. The country backs some robust organizations like Russia Today and Sputnik, which resemble mainstream news organizations but have been recently forced to register as foreign agents with the Justice Department. There’s the well-known efforts to manipulate Facebook with fake news and political groups. There’s even a website that offers millennial-friendly news videos.
