Electing Democrat Hillary Clinton president will lead to a "very harsh climate" for the press in which the First Amendment "will be very significantly eroded," contends WikiLeaks chief Julian Assange.

"What kind of press climate is going to exist afterwards, especially if Hillary Clinton is elected?" he asked in a radio interview with Sean Hannity.

"It will be perceived to be a validation of that hysteria, and so the press afterwards will be cracked down upon and online publishers and people on social media, you know, it will lead to a very harsh climate where the First Amendment will be very significantly eroded," Assange said.

Hear the interview:

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Assange made news days ago when he was erroneously reported to have called Clinton a "demon" in an interview with the New York Times.

He immediately set the record straight, blasting both the Times and Clinton.

On Twitter, he posted, "What we were drawing attention [to] is the amazing transformation that Hillary Clinton and the Democratic Party are by becoming the national security party and the national security candidate by whipping up a neo-McCarthyist hysteria about Russia.

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"Any serious analyst understands that China and the U.S. are the only real games in town. China has ten times the population of Russia, seven times the GDP. Russia has the GDP of Italy. It's interesting in that it makes provocative statements and so on. It's interesting, and of course in its own neck of the woods – countries between Russia and China, the Caucasus and so on—of course Russia is very significant for them, but in the world stage Russia is a bit player.

"That attempted re-framing by Hillary Clinton to declare media organizations that are publishing material that shows illicit behavior in the DNC to fix the election for her as somehow us being Russian agents, similar criticism has emerged from people connected to her campaign against the Intercept, where Glenn Greenwald works," he said.

"Her campaign has effectively, and maybe even directly, called Donald Trump, the opposition leader in this case, a Russian agent. ... Jill Stein, the Greens Party candidate, effectively the 4th candidate in terms of numbers – has also been called a Russian agent," he continued.

"This is a neo-McCarthyist hysteria. What kind of press environment is this going to lead to, post-election? The American liberal press, in falling over themselves to defend Hillary Clinton, are erecting a demon that's going [to] put nooses around everyone's necks when she wins the election which she is almost certainly going to do."

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On Hannity's radio show, he continued the conversation, charging Clinton and her campaign are "trying to whip up a neo-McCarthyist hysteria."

He explained: "The Democrats are always speaking about how terrible McCarthyism was, and it was in many ways. But at least the USSR actually existed then and there were actually Russian-influence campaigns which were serious. What we're seeing now is Hillary Clinton and her campaign trying to whip up a neo-McCarthyist hysteria."

He said she charges that anyone critical of her or who opposes her is in league with Russia.

"She claims Donald Trump is effectively an agent of the Russians. That WikiLeaks is an agent of the Russians. And where her campaign has also implied that Jill Stein, the Greens' leader, is a Russian agent. And the Intercept, which is an American publication, are effectively Russian agents."

He said the campaign's objective is to chill free speech to protect her if she wins in November.

WND reported WikiLeaks already has had a significant role in the presidential election.

It has released Democratic Party emails resulting in the resignation of top party officials and documents related to Hillary Clinton's email scandal, and promises an "October surprise" of information that could damage Clinton's White House bid.

Earlier, he ridiculed the claims that DNC documents leaked were provided by Russian agents.

There was "no evidence" of that, he said.

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