Politics

Julian Assange calls Rand Paul the ‘only hope’ for US politics

Josh Peterson Tech Editor
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Wikileaks founder and editor-in-chief Julian Assange gave high praise to Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul and the American libertarian political movement during an online Q&A session early Friday morning.

Responding to questions during a Google Hangout session, Assange praised the college-aged supported libertarian faction of the Republican Party as the “only hope” for U.S. electoral politics.

“The libertarian aspect of the Republican Party is presently the only useful political voice really in the U.S. Congress,” said Assange.

Assange also praised Paul and former Texas Republican Rep. Ron Paul for their principled positions on the libertarianism, non-violence, drone warfare, extrajudicial killings and abortion.

He also hailed Drudge Report editor Matt Drudge as a “news media innovator” who broke through the U.S. establishment media’s “self-censorship” with his coverage of the Clinton Administration’s Monica Lewinsky scandal.

The questions were asked by American journalist and Campus Reform Editor-In-Chief Josiah Ryan. The session was sponsored by Deakin University in Australia and transparency organization OurSay.org.

The polemical journalist and transparency activist also spoke with gratitude for the support he and Wikileaks have received from activists within Anonymous, which he described as an “Internet social movement” and “a part of Internet culture.”

“And like any culture, it has good people and it has bad people, but amongst the good people there are some very courageous people who have done great things, including supporting this organization, supporting me, supporting Bradley Manning and many others,” said Assange.

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