WikiLeaks leader Julian Assange (and respected medical doctor — oh, wait) has found himself in hot water after posting a Twitter poll asking followers to vote on the possible reasons behind presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s health issues over the past 24 hours. The WikiLeaks Twitter account posted the question “Hillary Clinton’s collapse on Saturday, prior coughing fits & unusual facial & body movements are best explained by:” with the options listed as “Allergies and personality”, “Parkinsons”, “MS”, “Head injury complications”.
Clinton’s camp has confirmed that she is suffering from pneumonia after she was filmed losing her balance while leaving the memorial of the September 11 terrorist attacks. The Twitter poll has now been removed, with a second tweet saying “we removed our earlier poll on what people perceive are the reasons for Clinton’s medical issues as the possibilities are too speculative”. There was no apology for the original tweet.
Clinton has been a target of WikiLeaks since the organisation released cables in 2010 showing that Clinton had approved spying on foreign diplomats (a full history of Assange’s campaign against Clinton is here).
Assange’s war on Clinton has drawn considerable love from the alt-right and Trump supporters — including some who vilified WikiLeaks for releasing the Chelsea Manning cables. But Assange’s bizarre focus on Clinton’s fainting and the offensive poll left even longtime supporters dismayed at his lack of judgement. Assange has been threatening more leaks that he says will end with Clinton in jail.
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