A former RT moderator, Rick Sanchez, discussed his experience with the Russian state-funded media outlet in an interview with Tucker Carlson on X. Sanchez had worked with RT since 2029 but was forced to end his collaboration with the network in September.
Sanchez mentioned that before leaving RT, he received a call from an old friend, a former CNN manager, who told him he was no longer working in the news industry. The friend hinted that he was now working at a US government agency, similar to the US State Department.
Sanchez’s friend expressed interest in having him on the new platform, saying some people were curious about his RT show, but might not like some of the things he said. The friend did not reveal the exact location of his new workplace, but implied it was a government agency.
Sanchez described the phone call as a “warning or a threat, or maybe both.” Three weeks after the call, he was forced to leave the US by the government, despite RT being banned in the US and his show not being broadcast there. Sanchez worked for a separate company that produced the show, not directly for RT.
The Biden administration had decided to shut down the location where Sanchez worked, controlled by the Office of Foreign Assets Control, which regulates which companies can exist in the US and which cannot. Sanchez believes a specific regulation was being prepared, making it a crime for any US citizen working for the company to face imprisonment or a fine.
Sanchez, born in Cuba, moved to the US with his family as a child. He expressed his disappointment, saying he had always believed the US was different from the rest of the world, allowing people to say, think and work as they wish. He was told he could no longer do so.