Donald Trump accused Google on Friday of only showcasing “bad stories” about him, threatening legal action against the tech giant if he returns to the White House.
In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump claimed that the search engine promotes positive articles about his Democratic opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, without providing any evidence to support his allegations.
“This is an ILLEGAL ACTIVITY, and hopefully the Justice Department will criminally prosecute them for this blatant Interference of Elections,” Trump stated. He went on to assert that if he wins the election, he will seek prosecution of Google “at the maximum levels.”
Trump’s remarks followed a report from a conservative group that highlighted its findings when searching for “Donald Trump presidential race 2024.” In response, Google clarified that both candidates’ campaign websites generally rank at the top of relevant searches.
“This report looked at a single rare search term on a single day a few weeks ago, and even for that search, both candidates’ websites ranked in the top results on Google,” the company stated.
Google has consistently denied manipulating search results to favor any political candidate, although it does not disclose the algorithms that govern its search engine. Factors influencing news story rankings include the timeliness and popularity of topics.
As Trump continues to face numerous criminal and civil allegations, including sexual abuse and attempts to interfere with the 2020 election, he remains a polarizing figure in American politics.
