Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham ClintonFox News poll: Biden ahead of Trump in Nevada, Pennsylvania and Ohio Trump, Biden court Black business owners in final election sprint The power of incumbency: How Trump is using the Oval Office to win reelection MORE campaign manager Robby Mook declined to comment about an alleged remark by the Democratic presidential nominee asking if a drone strike could be used against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.

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Amid speculation about the release of an “October surprise” by Assange, WTTG Fox 5 DC reporter Ronica Cleary published a video clip of her interview with Mook on Monday.

In it, she asked if the report was true and if the comment was made in jest.

Many reporters online have questioned TruePundit, the source of the original report, and New York Magazine published a post Monday night it said explained the “viral rumor that Hillary Clinton wanted to drone-strike Julian Assange.”

“I'm reticent to comment on anything that the WikiLeaks people have said. They've made a lot of accusations in the past," Mook told Cleary.

WikiLeaks tweeted a Washington Examiner report about the video on Monday, and on Sunday posted a screen grab from a TruePundit report that said Clinton once asked during a State Department briefing, "Can't we just drone this guy?"

Clinton campaign spokesperson Robby Mook refuses to deny Clinton "Can't we drone this guy [Assange]?" quote https://t.co/m5IJYeVxZW — WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) October 4, 2016

Hillary Clinton on Assange "Can't we just drone this guy" -- report https://t.co/S7tPrl2QCZ pic.twitter.com/qy2EQBa48y — WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) October 3, 2016

Mook shifted the attention to Donald Trump Donald John TrumpSteele Dossier sub-source was subject of FBI counterintelligence probe Pelosi slams Trump executive order on pre-existing conditions: It 'isn't worth the paper it's signed on' Trump 'no longer angry' at Romney because of Supreme Court stance MORE in his interview with Cleary, claiming the GOP presidential nominee and his allies are using Clinton’s alleged comment as a distraction from Trump's debate performance last week. He knocked Trump’s early-morning tweeting about former Miss Universe Alicia Machado.

“Donald Trump and his allies are trying to do everything they can to change the debate here right now,” Mook said. “They’ve got to find some way to change this up and they’re trying to do that by doubling down on conspiracy theories.”

WikiLeaks has published emails from the Democratic National Committee hack, and Assange was scheduled to make an announcement Tuesday from the balcony of the Ecuadorian Embassy in London concerning Clinton. But because of security concerns, the organization will instead host a press conference in Berlin to mark the 10th anniversary of the site.