Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • The Atlantic

    What Julian Assange and Donald Trump Have in Common

    They share enemies—and they use similarly nihilistic tactics toward similarly antidemocratic ends.
    by George Packer Jan 13, 2019 3 minutes
    Source: Frank Augstein / AP

    Editor’s Note: This article is one of 50 in a series about Trump's first two years as president.

    When a court filing in Virginia last November inadvertently revealed that Julian Assange faces unspecified criminal charges in the United States, Donald Trump had nothing to say. He’s had almost nothing to say about Assange since being elected president. But while running for president, Trump couldn’t stop talking about WikiLeaks.

    At the time, Assange’s organization video surfaced. Assange became a hero to the right-wing media, hailed as a brave oracle by Sean Hannity. Trump could hardly believe his good fortune. “WikiLeaks! I love WikiLeaks!” he shouted to a cheering crowd in Wilkes-Barre,  Pennsylvania, on October 10, 2016. By , Trump mentioned Assange’s organization at least 164 times in the last month of the campaign.

    You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

    More from The Atlantic

    The Atlantic4 min read
    Hayao Miyazaki’s Anti-war Fantasia
    Once, in a windowless conference room, I got into an argument with a minor Japanese-government official about Hayao Miyazaki. This was in 2017, three years after the director had announced his latest retirement from filmmaking. His final project was
    The Atlantic5 min read
    The Strangest Job in the World
    This is an edition of the Books Briefing, our editors’ weekly guide to the best in books. Sign up for it here. The role of first lady couldn’t be stranger. You attain the position almost by accident, simply by virtue of being married to the president
    The Atlantic2 min read
    Preface
    Illustrations by Miki Lowe For much of his career, the poet W. H. Auden was known for writing fiercely political work. He critiqued capitalism, warned of fascism, and documented hunger, protest, war. He was deeply influenced by Marxism. And he was hu

    Related Books & Audiobooks