Here's the conservative blog post that apparently convinced Trump Google is 'rigged' against him
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
You are now subscribed
Your newsletter sign-up was successful
President Trump may have been googling himself during his executive time, or he may have been reading PJ Media.
Trump on Tuesday said that Google News had "rigged" search results to unearth negative articles about him, questioning whether the phenomenon of his unpopularity may be "illegal." He complained that most search results were from "left-wing media," while "voices of conservatives" were suppressed.
Toronto Star reporter Daniel Dale pointed out that the complaint sounded suspiciously similar to a recent article from the right-wing site PJ Media. The conservative blog wrote that it had discovered "blatant prioritization of left-leaning and anti-Trump media outlets."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
"CNN was the big winner," the site wrote, echoing Trump's note that "Fake CNN is prominent" in results. Trump tweeted that 96 percent of results are from "left-wing" news sites, just as the blog claimed. PJ Media went on to lament the fact that "PJ Media did not appear in the first 100 results," nor did other conservative sites that are decidedly outside of the mainstream, like The Blaze.
Meanwhile, the article continued, major outlets like NBC News and The Washington Post appeared on the first page of results. Dale noted that Trump's gripe appears to be rooted in the fact that Google's "News tab for Trump brings up ... news sites ... rather than right-wing opinion sites."
Much like Trump's frequent parroting of Fox & Friends, it looks like right-wing theories have tunneled their way directly to the desks of federal officials. Trump has tweeted links to PJ Media stories before, so it's plausible his angry morning tweets were a direct result of his reading the recent article, which gained traction in conservative circles since its publishing Saturday.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Summer Meza has worked at The Week since 2018, serving as a staff writer, a news writer and currently the deputy editor. As a proud news generalist, she edits everything from political punditry and science news to personal finance advice and film reviews. Summer has previously written for Newsweek and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, covering national politics, transportation and the cannabis industry.
-
Buddhist monks’ US walk for peaceUnder the Radar Crowds have turned out on the roads from California to Washington and ‘millions are finding hope in their journey’
-
American universities are losing ground to their foreign counterpartsThe Explainer While Harvard is still near the top, other colleges have slipped
-
How to navigate dating apps to find ‘the one’The Week Recommends Put an end to endless swiping and make real romantic connections
-
Judge rejects California’s ICE mask ban, OKs ID lawSpeed Read Federal law enforcement agents can wear masks but must display clear identification
-
Lawmakers say Epstein files implicate 6 more menSpeed Read The Trump department apparently blacked out the names of several people who should have been identified
-
Japan’s Takaichi cements power with snap election winSpeed Read President Donald Trump congratulated the conservative prime minister
-
Trump sues IRS for $10B over tax record leaksSpeed Read The president is claiming ‘reputational and financial harm’ from leaks of his tax information between 2018 and 2020
-
Trump, Senate Democrats reach DHS funding dealSpeed Read The deal will fund most of the government through September and the Department of Homeland Security for two weeks
-
Fed holds rates steady, bucking Trump pressureSpeed Read The Federal Reserve voted to keep its benchmark interest rate unchanged
-
Judge slams ICE violations amid growing backlashSpeed Read ‘ICE is not a law unto itself,’ said a federal judge after the agency violated at least 96 court orders
-
Rep. Ilhan Omar attacked with unknown liquidSpeed Read This ‘small agitator isn’t going to intimidate me from doing my work’
