Google AI Censors Biden Opponents Ahead of Second GOP Primary Debate
Google’s artificial intelligence tool seems to have a mind of its own about who the popular 2024 presidential candidates are.
MRC Free Speech America researchers asked Google’s AI chatbot Bard to “Rank the 2024 presidential candidates” one week before the Republican presidential primary debates. The chatbot answered by completely ignoring Democrat Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Republican Vivek Ramaswamy who were the second and third leading candidates for their respective parties, as ranked by RealClear Politics polling data.
Bard ranked the candidates of each political party separately. First, it ranked its one and only listed Democratic Party candidate President Joe Biden. But Bard completely ignored Biden’s challengers, including Kennedy who is polling higher than Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, and Marianne Williamson who is polling higher than former UN ambassador Nikki Haley, according to RealClear Politics data.
The chatbot went on to rank five Republican candidates accordingly: former president Donald Trump, DeSantis, Haley, Mike Pence and Tim Scott. Bard notably left off Ramaswamy, who is the third most popular GOP primary candidate according to RealClear Politics data. It also excluded former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie(R).
“The candidates that pose the greatest threat to Biden besides Trump and Biden himself are Robert F. Kennedy and Vivek Ramaswamy,” MRC Free Speech America Vice President Dan Schneider said. “It’s no shocker that Google and its subsidiaries are again trying to win the election for Joe Biden.”
Click HERE to read about Google's election interference bias in search results.
When asked to “Rank the Republican party 2024 presidential candidates,” Bard separated the candidates into four tiers, placing Trump and DeSantis in tier 1, Haley and Pence in tier 2, Ramaswamy, Scott, Christie and Doug Burgum in tier 3 and Asa Hutchinson in tier 4. Bard wrote that it ordered the candidates “based on their current standing in polls and their overall chances of winning the nomination,” yet Ramaswamy, who Bard categorized as a tier 3 candidate, had been polling better than both Haley and Pence whom Bard placed in tier 2, according to RealClear Politics data.
MRC researchers further queried Bard on the 2024 presidential race. The results were telling. When asked to “Rank the Democratic party 2024 presidential candidates,” along with Biden, Bard produced the names of candidates who are not even running. In order, Bard named President Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Gretchen Whitmer(governor of Michigan) and California Governor Gavin Newsom. The chatbot added that Whitmer and Newsom might have an “edge” because she is a woman and he is a “man of color” (who knew?). Bard did not acknowledge Kennedy or Williamson, Biden’s actual declared primary opponents.
This comes as Kennedy is suing Google for alleged YouTube censorship in collusion with the Federal government. In his complaint, Kennedy’s legal team noted the impact of election interference via censorship. “This censorship campaign prevents Mr. Kennedy’s message from reaching millions of voters. It also makes it harder for groups that are supporting his campaign to amplify his message through public sources.”
Kennedy’s campaign did not respond to MRC Free Speech America’s request for comment by publication time.
Note: Ramaswamy was third in RealClear Politics polls on Sept. 20 when MRC Free Speech America conducted these Bard queries. Haley has since surpassed Ramaswamy.