Donald Trump downplayed his knowledge of WikiLeaks on Thursday after its founder, Julian Assange, was arrested in London.
“I know nothing about WikiLeaks. It’s not my thing,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office when asked if he still loves the organization.
The president said he had no knowledge of Assange’s arrest or the computer-hacking charge the WikiLeaks founder is facing in the U.S. Trump said what happens next is up to Attorney General William Barr.
Trump repeatedly professed his affinity for WikiLeaks during the 2016 campaign, when it published emails that were stolen from Democrats by Russian hackers.
“I love WikiLeaks,” Trump said at an October 2016 rally in Pennsylvania.
“Getting off the plane, they were just announcing new WikiLeaks, and I wanted to stay there, but I didn’t want to keep you waiting,” he said two days before Election Day that year. “Boy, I love reading those WikiLeaks.”
Trump’s latest comments came hours after Assange was arrested in the United Kingdom. The WikiLeaks founder had been staying at Ecuador’s embassy in London since 2012 before they withdrew his asylum this week.
WATCH:
President Trump, who often expressed his love of WikiLeaks during the 2016 presidential campaign, says following the arrest of Julian Assange on Thursday: "I know nothing about WikiLeaks. It's not my thing." pic.twitter.com/smT8o7La95 [1]
— NBC News (@NBCNews) April 11, 2019 [2]
Twitter had a field day:
Trump today in the Oval Office: "I know nothing about WikiLeaks. It's not my thing."
Flashback to the campaign. Trump: "WikiLeaks. I love WikiLeaks." pic.twitter.com/eYfg5zeySI [3]
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) April 11, 2019 [4]
Trump just now: “I know nothing about Wikileaks. It’s not my thing."
Trump Oct 2016: "WikiLeaks, I love WikiLeaks."
Trump Oct 2016: “This WikiLeaks is like a treasure trove,”
Trump Nov 2016: "Boy, I love reading those WikiLeaks."
— Christina Wilkie (@christinawilkie) April 11, 2019 [5]
Per pool, Trump is now claiming to not know anything about WikiLeaks or Assange arrest. "I know nothing about Wikileaks. It’s not my thing."
He said what happens next re: Assange is up to the attorney general.— Tarini Parti (@tparti) April 11, 2019 [6]
Trump says today, "I know nothing about WikiLeaks. It's not my thing."
He mentioned WikiLeaks more than 100 times in the final month of the 2016 campaign.https://t.co/DhdK8AHY2G [7]
— Aaron Blake (@AaronBlake) April 11, 2019 [8]
President Donald Trump just told the White House press pool, "I know nothing about Wikileaks. That's not my thing" when asked about Julian Assange.
Here's candidate Donald Trump: https://t.co/UphgXbRFUp [9]
— Marianna Sotomayor (@MariannaNBCNews) April 11, 2019 [10]