“Literally the Top Google Result for a ‘Trump News’ Search Is a Fox News Story”
President Trump went off the rails earlier than usual Tuesday morning. In a series of tweets posted before 5:30 AM ET, the president claimed that Google has “rigged” its results to highlight mostly bad news about him, from “National Left-Wing Media,” while shutting out right wing news outlets.
The president suggested that the supposed move by Google – which, to be clear, is false – is “illegal.” He also called it “dangerous.”
And he even threatened the search giant.
“Google search results for ‘Trump News’ shows only the viewing/reporting of Fake New Media,” Trump tweeted. “In other words, they have it RIGGED, for me & others, so that almost all stories & news is BAD. Fake CNN is prominent. Republican/Conservative & Fair Media is shut out. Illegal?”
“96% of results on ‘Trump News’ are from National Left-Wing Media, very dangerous,” the president claimed. “Google & others are suppressing voices of Conservatives and hiding information and news that is good. They are controlling what we can & cannot see. This is a very serious situation-will be addressed!” he threatened.
Trump has no ability to “address” Google’s algorithms.
He’s likely getting his “facts” from a right wing website, PJ Media, as Toronto Star reporter Daniel Dale notes. An August 25 article claims “blatant prioritization of left-leaning and anti-Trump media outlets” by Google.
Why?
“PJ Media did not appear in the first 100 results, nor did National Review, The Weekly Standard, Breitbart, The Blaze, The Daily Wire, Hot Air, Townhall, Red State, or any other conservative-leaning sites except the two listed above.” Those two are Fox News and The Wall Street Journal.
Some familiar with the conservative brands mentioned above, especially on the left, will likely question their reliability. The conservative media echo chamber is strong, so one false “fact” appearing in one publication will get repeated over and over again, leading readers of only right wing outlets to believe, wrongly, it’s true.
Meanwhile, Trump was mercilessly mocked for his threat and his false claims of bias: