Forty-five-to-one. That is the ratio of negative to positive headlines about President Donald Trump among the top 20 stories Google News promoted from Oct. 1 through Oct. 28, in the weeks leading up to the midterm elections, according to a new Media Research Center analysis.
A day after MRC found a pronounced negative slant in Apple News’s Trump-related headlines, a new analysis found a fairly similar pattern on Google News. The headlines reviewed by MRC show that Google News repeatedly promoted negative portrayals of Trump, including coverage that characterized him as antisemitic, dishonest and petty, while emphasizing criticism of his administration, foreign policy decisions and political conduct.
MRC President David Bozell said about the findings, “Eighty-seven Trump headlines. Forty-five negative. One positive, and a Fox News story about Karoline Leavitt supplied it. Google News had 28 days to find a second nice word and came up empty. It’s time for Google News to aggregate some balance.”
MRC’s Key Findings:
- MRC identified 87 headlines that included the word “Trump” across Google News during the reviewed period: 45 were negative, 41 were neutral and just one was positive.
- Negative headlines emphasized Trump’s clashes with foreign leaders, legal setbacks, GOP divisions and voter dissatisfaction with his economic policies. Others amplified criticism from Democratic opponents, highlighted controversies surrounding his conduct and administration, and included an NBC News headline accusing Trump of hurling an antisemitic slur.
- Google News had several alternative headlines from outlets across the ideological spectrum, with their bias ratings determined by independent media bias firm AllSides. These story headlines presented more favorable perspectives on Trump, his administration and its policies, but Google News did not promote them in the reviewed sample.
Google News’s “Trump” Headlines
Similar to its recently published analysis of Apple News, MRC reviewed Google News’s top 20 stories each day from Oct. 1 through Oct. 28 to identify all headlines that included the president’s name “Trump.”
After identifying 45 negative and 41 neutral headlines, MRC found that the sole positive headline came from Fox News and featured former White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt reflecting on her experience working with Trump. “Karoline Leavitt opens up about life changes, calls Trump kind and uplifting,” the headline noted.
The single favorable portrayal was an exception. Like Apple News, Google News promoted negative story headlines about Trump across a wide range of issues, with several themes overlapping with those identified in MRC’s Apple News analysis.
Some headlines offered little legitimate public interest, while others relied on what could be considered misleading framing or clickbait. For instance: “‘Shut That F**king Mouth Of Yours’: Robert De Niro Threatens Jimmy Kimmel Over Trump,” and an opinion piece sarcastically headlined, “Trump says economy is great. We should definitely trust him.”
Several repeated false claims that Trump had suggested allowing Iran to “take out” Los Angeles and San Diego, despite a clear distinction between what he actually said and how the headlines characterized his remarks. “White House defends Trump comment to let Iran ‘take out’ LA and San Diego,” read a BBC headline promoted on Oct. 6.
Another headline attempted to link Trump to a sexual assault case at Cornell University, even though the alleged incident occurred during the Biden administration.
On foreign policy, negative headlines largely emphasized criticism of Trump’s policies and opposition from his political and international rivals.
In the dispute between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Google News promoted headlines that emphasized Zelenskyy’s defiance of Trump and portrayed the president as losing influence over Ukraine: “Zelenskyy defies Trump as Ukraine resumes strikes on Russian refineries,” “Ukraine hits Russian refinery as Zelenskiy says 'we're done' with Trump's energy truce” and “Zelensky Says Ukraine Will Resume Russian Refinery Strikes, Defying Trump.”
Google News also promoted headlines emphasizing Zelenskyy and Republicans’ criticism of Trump’s diesel deal with Russia. An Axios headline promoted Oct. 10 quoted the Ukrainian president calling the deal “‘Not fair and not honest,’” while a BBC headline promoted the same day characterized it as “a gift to Putin.”
Several headlines amplified attacks by Trump’s Democrat opponents, including criticism from California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, Rep. Ilhan Omar and former President Barack Obama. Others highlighted purported instances of misconduct, including one headline accusing Trump of using an “antisemitic slur.” These headlines specifically read:
- “Newsom, Bass respond to Trump’s ‘take out Los Angeles’ comments,” by KTLA, promoted Oct. 10.
- “Ilhan Omar Accuses Trump Of ‘Lies And Smear Campaigns’ After DHS Raids Her Home,” by Forbes, promoted Oct. 13.
- “Trump uses antisemitic slur in defending Sen. Roger Marshall at rally in Kansas,” by NBC News, promoted Oct. 20.
- “Obama Issues Searing Attacks on Trump and Ramaswamy in Return to Campaign Trail,” by The New York Times, promoted Oct. 25.
- “Obama attacks Trump as he campaigns for Democrats ahead of midterm elections,” by the BBC, promoted Oct. 25.
- “In first midterm rallies, Obama assails Trump administration,” by The Washington Post, promoted Oct. 25.
Google News repeatedly framed the Trump administration as facing defeat in legal battles, using phrases such as “Federal judge orders,” “Judge halts” and “judge slams” to emphasize judicial opposition to the administration.
On the economy, headlines highlighted voter dissatisfaction and regret, including: “‘Everything got worse’: Gen Z expresses frustration, regret after Trump vote,” by NPR, promoted on Oct. 16.
On White House controversies, Google News promoted headlines emphasizing embarrassment and scandal, such as “Why the Katie Zacharia debacle is a huge embarrassment for Trump,” by CNN, promoted Oct. 17.
Fact-checking headlines also cast doubt on Trump’s statements, including: “Trump's Dubious Claim About the Ilhan Omar Search.”
Other headlines emphasized personal disputes and political setbacks, including “Trump lost control and ordered me to be ‘quiet’ in the Oval Office. Then it got personal,” “Trump turns the GOP’s Ramaswamy ad headache into a migraine” and “‘No one ever heard of her’: Trump goes off on petty rant after Nobel Peace Prize snub.”
Google News had a substantial selection of alternative, more favorable headlines available to promote but did not feature them.
To verify that alternative, positive story headlines were available on Google News, MRC confirmed that each headline appeared in the news aggregator's search results. These headlines came from outlets with varying ideological leanings, as reflected in their media bias ratings from independent media bias firm AllSides. Mediaite and USA Today are rated as left-leaning, The Times of Israel and ABC 2 Baltimore (WMAR-2 News) as center and the New York Post as right-leaning.
These headlines included:
- “CNN’s Daniel Dale Comes to Trump’s Aid After Critics Claim He Threatened LA Again: ‘Obviously Takes Him Out of Context,’” by Mediaite, published Oct. 8.
- “The media is losing it over Trump's 'take out' LA remark,” by USA Today, published Oct. 7.
- “Trump cheered in prerecorded video address to Michigan synagogue about antisemitism,” by The Times of Israel, published Oct. 15.
- “Supreme Court Hands Trump Admin 7-2 Win in Political Ad Dispute,” by Newsweek, published Oct. 15.
- “'A tremendous victory': Trump visits Baltimore County to announce new $3.7B shipyard plans,” by ABC 2 Baltimore (WMAR-2 News), published Oct. 6
- “Crime’s way down thanks to Trump — Dems will fight to send it back up,” by the New York Post, published Oct. 27.
MRC Free Speech America interns Madison Van Zant and Preston Hoffman contributed crucial research for this report.
Methodology: MRC reviewed the top 20 stories promoted by Google News each morning at approximately 8:30 a.m. from Oct. 1 through Oct. 28. MRC researchers reviewed and identified the headlines of stories with the president’s name “Trump” in them. Headlines about other Trump personalities (e.g., First Lady Melania Trump) were excluded. MRC then analyzed the story headlines, examining how the issues were framed, whether crucial context was excluded, which perspectives were emphasized or excluded, which sources and viewpoints were given prominence through quotes and whether potentially inflammatory language was used.
