A CNN reporter and camera crew approached an elderly female Trump supporter in public to confront her about promoting a pro-Trump social media account that was allegedly set up by Russians.
On Tuesday night, the network aired a news segment showing reporter Drew Griffin asking the woman, identified as Florine Gruen Goldfarb, whether she knew she was involved with the allegedly Russian-established Facebook account “Being Patriotic.”
“But they [Russians] were involved with you. Did you guys know that?” Griffin asked Goldfarb.
“They weren’t involved with us,” Goldfarb said, telling the CNN crew to report its story correctly that members of her group were American supporters.
“Those were Russians,” Griffin said, referring to the “Being Patriotic” account, which organized a pro-Trump rally promoted by Goldfarb’s own Facebook group.
“They were not Russians. I don’t go with the Russians,” Goldfarb said.
The “Being Patriotic” page was allegedly set up by Russians who presented themselves as Americans. The Russians, according to CNN’s report, reached out to Floridian Harry Miller, a Trump supporter, to help promote the account.
Critics on social media accused CNN of harassing the woman.
“Despicable: CNN hunts down an ordinary citizen at home, accusing her of aiding Russia because she promoted an event on FB that Mueller says Russians organized,” tweeted journalist Glenn Greenwald.
Chuck Ross, a reporter with the conservative Daily Caller, wrote on Twitter, “Lost respect for @DrewGriffinCNN over this hack job. Harassing an old lady who, whether or not her group was targeted by Russian trolls, obviously had no idea she was dealing with Russians.”
A Florida woman who ran a Trump supporters page that unwittingly promoted a Russian-coordinated event on Facebook says she doesn’t believe that she was influenced by Kremlin-linked trolls https://t.co/DmgDRFRwyn pic.twitter.com/OAz5julCyA— CNN (@CNN) February 21, 2018
