Trump Says He’ll Prosecute Google If He Retakes Power

Donald Trump called for the transgression prosecution of Google by the U.S. Justice Department (DOJ) during a flurry of unhinged tweets Friday connected his societal media level Truth Social. And successful immoderate different governmental era, this benignant of bizarre screed would beryllium front-page quality for weeks. Here successful 2024, it’s conscionable different Friday.

Trump, a convicted felon and superior statesmanlike candidate, insists that Google is someway lone showing antagonistic quality stories astir the erstwhile president portion showing affirmative stories astir his Democratic rival, Vice President Kamala Harris. Trump is intelligibly frustrated by the quality sum he’s receiving, particularly since he’s doing truthful poorly successful caller polls.

“It has been determined that Google has illegally utilized a strategy of lone revealing and displaying atrocious stories astir Donald J. Trump, immoderate made up for this intent while, astatine the aforesaid time, lone revealing bully stories astir Comrade Kamala Harris,” Trump tweeted Friday afternoon.

Trump claimed this amounts to “illegal activity” and said that if the Justice Department doesn’t bash thing to prosecute the tech giant, he’ll bash it himself—that is if he’s capable to instrumentality powerfulness again.

“This is an ILLEGAL ACTIVITY, and hopefully the Justice Department volition criminally prosecute them for this blatant Interference of Elections. If not, and taxable to the Laws of our Country, I volition petition their prosecution, astatine the maximum levels, erstwhile I triumph the Election, and go President of the United States!” Trump wrote.

Notably, Google and the U.S. Department of Justice are successful tribunal close present but it has thing to bash with “election interference” arsenic Trump calls it. The DOJ is suing implicit Google’s alleged advertisement tech monopoly.

Where did Trump get this thought that Google is lone showing antagonistic stories astir the Republican campaigner and lone affirmative stories astir Harris? That portion isn’t wholly clear. But there’s a bully accidental it’s thing helium saw connected Fox News, fixed the information that he’s perpetually watching TV and spewing his idiotic thoughts astir it connected Truth Social.

But this isn’t the archetypal clip Trump has accused Google of being manipulated to enactment against him. The rambling boomer adjacent said the company’s hunt results were “rigged” successful 2018, a clip erstwhile helium was the President of the United States and arguably the astir almighty idiosyncratic successful the world.

“Google hunt results for ‘Trump News’ shows lone the viewing/reporting of Fake New Media. In different words, they person it RIGGED, for maine & others, truthful that astir each stories & quality is BAD. Fake CNN is prominent. Republican/Conservative & Fair Media is unopen out. Illegal?” Trump tweeted backmost successful August 2018.

Trump has besides threatened to flip different tech figures successful jail, including Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who has precocious tried to region himself from thing associated with Democratic causes. In fact, Zuckerberg has reportedly had astatine slightest 2 telephone calls with Trump successful caller months, according to the New York Times, and described Trump arsenic “badass” aft the archetypal attempted assassination against the erstwhile president successful Butler, Pennsylvania this past July.

Trump has go progressively unmoored from world since leaving the White House successful January 2021, floating ridiculous conspiracy theories and making repeated false claims astir immoderate fig of topics. The erstwhile president attempted a coup astatine the U.S. Capitol connected January 6th that failed to overturn the predetermination results, and Trump has been stewing ever since, lashing retired astatine perceived enemies and penning bizarre all-caps tweets precocious into the night.

And present that Harris is doing mostly good successful the polls, the erstwhile president is intelligibly saying thing helium tin successful bid to muddy the waters and possibly explicate wherefore helium mightiness beryllium losing. In this case, it’s Trump trying to assertion that the lone crushed he’s doing poorly is that Americans are seeing antagonistic stories astir him.

Harris is doing precise well, according to the astir caller large polls. As of Friday, the Democrat is up 2.8 points based connected FiveThirtyEight’s nationalist polling average, though the U.S. doesn’t take presidents based connected thing truthful silly and elemental arsenic the fashionable vote. But Harris is doing good successful the important battleground states.

Harris is up 3 points implicit Trump successful Arizona, Michigan, and Wisconsin, according to a caller canvass from Bloomberg released Thursday. And she’s up 7 points successful Nevada, 5 points successful Pennsylvania, and 2 points successful North Carolina. Georgia, different plaything state, is wherever the 2 candidates are polling dormant even, though different polls amusement Harris doing overmuch amended there. However, Harris supporters are rightly tense astir what could hap erstwhile voters really spell to the polls successful November, particularly aft it looked similar Hillary Clinton was doing precise good successful polling backmost successful 2016 earlier losing the Electoral College vote.

A petition for remark to Google connected Friday wasn’t instantly returned. Gizmodo volition update this station if we perceive back.