Trump threatens to prosecute Google for fronting ‘good stories’ about Kamala Harris.
Former President of United State of America, Donald Trump has said that if he wins the country’s 2024 presidential election, he plans to ask the Justice Department to prosecute Google for what he claimed is an illegal system to only reveal bad stories about him and good stories about Vice President Kamala Harris, his rival in the 2024 presidential election.
A spokesperson for Trump didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on the Truth Social post, which alleged that it “has been determined that Google has illegally used a system of only revealing and displaying bad stories about Donald J. Trump, some made up for this purpose while, at the same time, only revealing good stories about Comrade Kamala Harris.”
Trump said, “This is an ILLEGAL ACTIVITY, and hopefully the Justice Department will criminally prosecute them for this blatant Interference of Elections.”
Trump added, without specifying which criminal statute he was referring to. “If not, and subject to the Laws of our Country, I will request their prosecution, at the maximum levels, when I win the Election, and become President of the United States!“
Trump may have been referencing the conservative group Media Research Center’s claim that a study it conducted found Google favors Harris over Trump in its search rankings. The study drew coverage from conservative outlets such as Fox News and the New York Post.
In a statement to USA TODAY, a Google spokesperson denied the claim that the company favors any candidate and pointed out some of the study’s limitations.
The 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,” according to the statement.
The threat marks just the latest expressed desire from Trump to wield the power of the federal government to punish his perceived enemies. He has previously threatened to prosecute or imprison an assortment of rivals, including Harris, President Joe Biden, and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.