Time Magazine reporter who called for a drone strike on Julian Assange faces Twitter backlash

Controversy: Michael Grunwald caused a huge Twitter row after he suggested that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange should be killed by a drone strike

A TIME magazine reporter set off a Twitter spat on Saturday when he controversially suggested that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange be killed in a drone strike.



Michael Grunwald was pressured into deleting the offending tweet after it was greeeted with hostility online - particularly by Glenn Greenwald of The Guardian - who broke the story of NSA whistle-blower Edward Snowden.



Indeed, TIME magazine distanced themselves from the tweet saying, 'Michael Grunwald posted an offensive tweet from his personal Twitter account that is no way representative of TME's views'.



Grunwald has written extensively about his support for the United States strategy of killing terrorists using unmanned military drones.



Writing on Twitter on Friday, Grunwald said he 'can't wait to write a defense of the drone strike that takes out' Assange, who is an Australian citizen.



Assange is currently in hiding at the Ecuadorian embassy in London - as he attempts to ward off his own extradition to Sweden where he is wanted for questioning over allegations of sexual assault.

Caught: This tweet posted by Blake Hounshell shows the deleted one that Michael Grunwald posted on Friday Target: Michael Grunwald called for Julian Assange to be targeted in a drone strike and was attacked by Glenn Greenwald - The Guardian journalist who broke the story of NSA whistle-blower Edward Snowden



Outraged: Others were not so impressed with Grunwalds opinion on drone strikes taking out Julian Assange

Taking to Twitter to express his anger, Greenwald said that 'Thing like this make you not just understand, but celebrate, the failings of large media outlets.'



Journalist Quinn Norton said that despite Assange's reputation, he has never demanded anyone's murder or assassination.

Grunwald deleted his tweet after a follower argued that it would only encourage Assange supporters.



However, the furore continued with a William Patrick Wend incredulously asking Grunwald, 'Yeah, so you don't have to be an 'Assange supporter' to find calling for extra judicial murder to be sickening.'

Admission: Eventually, Grunwald said that his tweet was wrong and that it was right he apologized

Grunwald then revealed that he was receiving anti-Semitic abuse to his Twitter account but ultimately admitted that his tweet was 'dumb' and that he deserved the 'backlash'.



Assange announced last month that he was attempting to stand as a candidate for the senate in Australia for the WikiLeaks Party.



'Wikileaks Party is a party of accountability, it's not a party of government,' he said.



'It's a party to put into the Senate, to make sure whoever is put into the government does their job. It's an insurance against the election.'

In March, Grunwald said he was perplexed as to why people had become upset at the trageted killing of U.S. citizen Anwar al-Awlaki, by a drone strike because of his association with al Qaeda.