WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange says he had “mixed” feelings about the election's outcome but offered praise for President-elect Donald TrumpDonald TrumpSanders to Dems: We must change our strategy to regain power Budowsky: In 2016, Sanders soared, Clinton sunk, Trump won, truth lost Top general: At least two more years of fighting ISIS MORE.
In an interview with Italian newspaper la Republicca, Assange favorably compared Trump to rival Hillary ClintonHillary Rodham ClintonBudowsky: In 2016, Sanders soared, Clinton sunk, Trump won, truth lost Questions hang over Trump plan on infrastructure Obama: Clinton campaigned defensively, faced 'double standard' MORE, saying at least the president-elect was “not a DC insider.”
“He is part of the wealthy ruling elite of the United States, and he is gathering around him a spectrum of other rich people and several idiosyncratic personalities,” Assange said in the interview, which was first reported by the Guardian.
“They do not by themselves form an existing structure, so it is a weak structure which is displacing and destabilizing the pre-existing central power network within DC,” he said.
“It is a new patronage structure which will evolve rapidly, but at the moment its loosens means there are opportunities for change in the United States.”
Assange said it could be “change for the worse and change for the better.”
WikiLeaks released a series of documents harmful to Clinton throughout the campaign, many of which came from hacks of the Democratic National Committee as well as Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta's personal email.
The U.S. intelligence community has publicly said Russia was behind the hacks, and a CIA assessment reportedly concluded the Kremlin was specifically trying to help Trump win.
Assange has denied the documents came from Russia. On Election Day, he posted a statement denying that the document leaks were meant to back any specific candidate.
He insisted that he only published documents about Clinton because he didn't receive any leaks from Trump's side.