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In the interview with The New York Times on August 31, Mr Assange, who has hidden in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London since 2012, accused “the American liberal press” of “erecting a demon” by shielding Mrs Clinton from criticism. "The American liberal press, in falling over themselves to defend Hillary Clinton, are erecting a demon that is going to put nooses around everyone's necks as soon as she wins the election, which is almost certainly what she's going to do," Mr Assange said. "What kind of press environment is this going to lead to post-election?" Following the publication of the article, the WikiLeaks founder fired back at claims that he was interfering with the US elections, defending Donald Trump and publishing information that may somehow be beneficial to Russia.

GETTY Assange hit out at Clinton's campaign for portraying Wikileaks 'as somehow us being Russian agents'

WikiLeaks released its own response, clarifying its position, stating: "The New York Times Editorial Board has endorsed Hillary Clinton, however this is not disclosed in the article. "The only hard news in the article is that "American officials say Mr. Assange and WikiLeaks probably have no direct ties to Russian intelligence services." In an interview with Fox News on Wednesday, Mr Assange’s previous comments were put to him by conservative commentator and Trump supporter Sean Hannity. Defending his stance, he explained: “It’s a bit taken out of context by critics like The New York Times. I wasn’t talking about Hillary Clinton as a person but rather the climate that they are erecting. “It is a demon, that climate. If Hillary Clinton is elected, then they have legitimised a climate of calling opposition leaders Russian agents, calling critical press Russian agents. "Her campaign team has done it both for Mr Trump, for us and for the Green’s candidate Jill Stein and for The Intercept and other small publishers in the United States.

GETTY Assange has hidden in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London since 2012