Andrew Harnik/AP
- WikiLeaks and Donald Trump Jr. exchanged several messages during the 2016 presidential campaign.
- Trump praised WikiLeaks, which published damaging leaks related to Hillary Clinton’s tenure as US Secretary of State, throughout the campaign.
Following a report that listed several messages in which WikiLeaks and Donald Trump Jr. appeared to contact each other during the 2016 US presidential election, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and Trump Jr. addressed the correspondence and even released the alleged messages.
Although the messages in the report suggested a quid-pro-quo relationship between WikiLeaks and Trump Jr., it eventually became clear that regardless of whether Trump Jr. relayed their correspondence to Trump, the campaign used WikiLeaks as a platform to launch attacks against his opponent, Hillary Clinton.
Here are a few times Trump mentioned WikiLeaks during his campaign, according to widely available video footage of Trump’s campaign-trail appearances:
- October 10, 2016 in Wilkes-Barre, PA: “This just came out,” Trump said. “WikiLeaks, I love WikiLeaks.”
- October 12, 2016 in Ocala, FL: “This WikiLeaks stuff is unbelievable,” Trump said. “It tells you the inner heart, you gotta read it.”
- October 13, 2016 in Cincinnati, OH: “It’s been amazing what’s coming out on WikiLeaks.”
- October 31, 2016 in Warren, MI: “Another one came in today,” Trump said. “This WikiLeaks is like a treasure trove.”
- November 4, 2016 in Wilmington, OH: “Getting off the plane, they were just announcing new WikiLeaks, and I wanted to stay there, but I didn’t want to keep you waiting,” said Trump. “Boy, I love reading those WikiLeaks.”
Watch a clip here:
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