Reactions to the arrest of WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange poured in on social media, with pro-Assange Trump supporters and press freedom advocates expressing dismay, while neoconservative NeverTrumpers and Hillary Clinton supporters celebrated.
British Prime Minister Theresa May, currently under siege for her persistent failure to deliver Brexit, praised the arrest of Assange in Parliament today. “In the United Kingdom, nobody is above the law” said May.
British Foreign Minister Sajid Javid also praised Ecuadorian officials for their cooperation in handing Assange.
Reactions from American commentators also flooded in. Former Hillary Clinton adviser and president of the Center for American Progress accused Assange of “fascist behavior” and “undermin[ing] democracy.”
“It’s a great day!” said Claude Taylor, a former Clinton staffer who now runs an anti-Trump PAC.
Taylor also attacked “enablers” of Assange including Sean Hannity and Nigel Farage, who he alleged visited Assange.
Pam Keith, a former Democrat congressional candidate in Florida, called Assange a “knowing conspirator with Russia to attack an election.”
Amanda Marcotte, writer for the far-left progressive website Salon said she would enjoy a “dark cackle” at the WikiLeaks publisher being prosecuted.
Never-Trump talking head Rick Wilson called Assange a “b**ch,” telling WikiLeaks to “cry more.”
Republican Senator Ben Sasse, who was a vocal opponent of President Trump during the 2016 election, called Assange a “lackey” of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The former President of Ecuador, Rafael Correa, who originally granted Assange asylum in his country’s embassy in London in 2012, came out strongly against his successor’s decision to hand the WikiLeaks publisher over to U.K. police.
Correa called his successor, current President Lenin Moreno, the “greatest traitor in Ecuadorian and Latin American history.”
Many Trump supporters expressed similar dismay with the arrest of Assange, calling the publisher a “hero” for WikiLeaks’ efforts to expose wrongdoing by the Hillary Clinton campaign in 2016. “A sad day for whistleblowers everywhere,” said the highest-voted commenter on The_Donald, the center of Trump supporters on Reddit.
Populist commentator star Paul Joseph Watson, who has previously appeared on Breitbart News Daily to discuss YouTube censorship, urged Trump to pardon the WikiLeaks publisher.
“It’s time to find out whether Trump sides with his base or with the deep state that has been trying to subvert his presidency for the past two years” said Watson.
Whistleblower Edward Snowden, who exposed mass-scale surveillance of Americans by James Clapper’s NSA in 2013, tweeted his support for Assange. “This is a dark moment for press freedom,” said Snowden.
Snowden also drew attention to a formal UN ruling that the detention of the WikiLeaks publisher was arbitrary and a violation of human rights.
Some left-wing journalists criticized progressive media and pro-Clinton figures for cheering the arrest.
Glenn Greenwald of The Intercept highlighted a previous investigation into WikiLeaks by the Obama DOJ.
He called on fellow left-wing journalists to “take a hard look in the mirror.”
Christopher Deloire, executive director of the press advocacy organization Reporters Without Borders said that targeting the WikiLeaks publisher is a “punitive measure” that would set a “dangerous precedent” for journalists.
One America News host Jack Posobiec drew attention to the journalism awards received by Julian Assange, and questioned whether the progressives who supported President Obama’s commutation of Chelsea Manning’s sentence would support a pardon for the WikiLeaks publisher.
Posobiec, who campaigned for Trump in 2016 prior to entering journalism, also drew attention to the President’s frequent use of WikiLeaks material on the campaign trail.
British comedian and free speech champion Mark “Count Dankula” Meecham questioned whether mainstream journalists would support the WikiLeaks publisher.
Allum Bokhari is the senior technology correspondent at Breitbart News. You can follow him on Twitter, Gab.ai and add him on Facebook. Email tips and suggestions to allumbokhari@protonmail.com.