Google showed its disdain for democracy last month when it pushed the doomsday narratives coming out of the recent U.S. GOP primaries and UK elections.
President Donald Trump has been racking up GOP primary victories as the candidates he endorsed continue to dominate in the polls. But in May, Google News repeatedly twisted the narrative by publishing stories that negatively framed democracy at work, not only in U.S. but also in U.K. elections.
In the U.S., Trump-endorsed candidates Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, Julia Letlow and Ed Gallrein beat out establishment Republicans, Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) and Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY)—known for being anti-Trump and challenging the president was elected to enact.
UK conservatives similarly gained momentum in May when the Reform UK party succeeded in local elections while campaigning to “Get Starmer Out.” As a result, there has also been talk of Prime Minister Keir Starmer, leader of the liberal Labour Party, being ousted. Google, however, presented many of these stories from the perspective of dramatic loss and crisis instead of simply the democratic process and victory for those who seek to reject Labour’s leftist agenda.
MRC Findings:
- Google News diminished the victories of Trump-endorsed candidates and Reform UK challengers to Starmer by elevating stories from predominantly leftist outlets that vilified Trump and completely ignored who won the elections.
- Twenty-eight of the 37 stories (76%) related to these populist surges at the ballot box were framed negatively, while just one was framed positively.
- The leftist tilt was not limited to election-related stories. The number of stories Google News promoted from right-leaning outlets dropped to an annual low of 10 in May, or just under 2% of the total 544 AllSides-rated stories. Google News promoted 393 stories from left-leaning outlets (72%) and 141 from outlets rated center.
“Here Google goes again!” said MRC VP Dan Schneider. “For nearly two decades, Google has acted less like a neutral platform and more like a political gatekeeper, and it’s already becoming clear that the 2026 midterm season will be no exception. Our research shows this isn’t a one-off but part of a pattern of election interference, with Google repeatedly pushing leftist narratives, suppressing right-leaning viewpoints and seemingly only supporting democracy when the left is winning. Americans should be outraged that tech titans like Google have spent years trying to shape elections instead of providing balanced information for their viewers.
Google News Repeatedly Negatively Framed Electoral Victories for Trump-Endorsed Candidates in the U.S. and Reform Party Gains in the UK
Using leftist outlets that painted Trump as a villain, Google News repeatedly referred to the president’s endorsements of Letlow, Gallrein and Paxton as “revenge.” For example, Google prominently featured the CNN headlines: “Trump's drive for political revenge faces a key test in Saturday's Louisiana Senate Primary” and “Trump completes his month of GOP revenge, and other takeaways from the Texas runoffs.” Axios framed the Kentucky primary election very similarly with the headline, “Trump's revenge tour comes for Massie.”
Google News additionally pushed stories that poured cold water on Paxton’s victory over Cornyn, pointing to the problems his win could create for Trump and Republicans. For example, Google highlighted a couple of stories noting Paxton’s difficulties fundraising. “Republicans worry Texas brawl could take money away from key battlegrounds,” read a Politico headline Google propped up. “Republicans brace for money problems in Texas after Ken Paxton’s win,” read another from NBC News.
The Washington Post similarly claimed that unseating candidates “could become headache for Trump,” while The Guardian noted it could generate “false hope.”
The digital news gatekeeper also highlighted 12 stories coming out of the U.K. elections, each of them noting that Keir Starmer might have to resign due to Reform U.K.’s electoral success in mounting an opposition to his party. For example, Google News elevated a BBC headline “‘Crisis in Great Britain!' Global media reacts to Starmer election fallout.” Along the same lines, Google pushed a CNBC story about leftist billionaire Jaime Daimon whining about the UK electoral results: “Jaime Daimon warns JP Morgan may rethink new London office if 'very smart' Starmer is ousted as UK PM.”
The only positive headline related to these elections that Google let slip through came from Fox News when it reported on Letlow’s win in Louisiana over incumbent Cassidy. “Trump scores major Republican primary victory as Cassidy ousted in Louisiana,” the headline read.
Google News Continues Burying Stories from Right-Leaning Outlets Overall
In May, Google News featured the fewest number of right-leaning stories (just 10) since December 2025, when it promoted only nine stories from right-leaning outlets. Three of the 10 articles in May were sports stories and one was even about internet memes of Marco Rubio’s track suit. Meanwhile, the news aggregator pushed 393 stories from left-leaning outlets (72%) and 141 from outlets rated center by AllSides.
Some of the most outrageous headlines included two from The Daily Beast doing its tired routine of beating up on Trump. “Panicking Donald Trump Flies in Top Goon Marco Rubio After Sparking Crisis,” read one headline. “How Trump’s Trip to China Proves He’s Truly Broken America,” read another.
Methodology: During the time period May 1 - 31, 2026, MRC researchers examined the top 20 stories featured on Google News each day at approximately 8:30 AM ET. MRC researchers specifically analyzed stories about GOP primary upsets and the U.K. elections, identifying whether headlines for each had a negative, positive or neutral spin. Researchers additionally used the AllSides media bias ratings, which categorize an outlet as “left,” “lean left,” “center,” “lean right” or “right” to determine the overall bias presented by Google News and analyzed the results.
