August 28, 2018

Trump Falsely Claims Google Is “Rigged” Against Him

“Illegal?” he suggested.

Michael Brochstein/ZUMA

Get your news from a source that’s not owned and controlled by oligarchs. Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily.

In a pair of early morning tweets on Tuesday, President Donald Trump complained that Google News’ algorithm is “rigged” against him and threatened to address what he claims is an unfair bias that hurts conservatives. 

The tweets appeared to suggest that the president had arrived at the conclusion by possibly Googling himself. It’s more likely, however, that he picked up the talking point and 96 percent statistic from a Monday night Fox News segment.

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1034371152204967936

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1034373707047882759

The tweets are only the most recent examples of Trump’s long-standing theory that the media is biased against him. In 2017, he similarly claimed that Facebook along with the New York Times and Washington Post—two of his most frequent “fake news” targets—had always been “anti-Trump.” Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg dismissed Trump’s assertions and suggested that both liberals and conservatives “are upset about ideas and content” that undermine their political ideologies.

Even Trump’s favorite media platform has not been exempt from his attacks. Last month, the president accused Twitter of “shadow banning” Republicans.

In response, Google released a statement rejecting allegations that its algorithm is used to “set a political agenda.”

BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things they don’t like—which is most things that are true.

No one gets to tell Mother Jones what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

payment methods

BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things they don’t like—which is most things that are true.

No one gets to tell Mother Jones what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate