Google AI may be orangewashing Trump’s legacy: How algorithmic bias shapes collective memory and understanding

Unregulated AI systems can be manipulated to benefit the powerful while silencing those who challenge them.

When the most widely-used search engine in the world suppresses documented evidence of a powerful man's hateful rhetoric while pushing "inspirational" content about that same figure, we’re seeing algorithmic bias in real-time.

In light of the Trump Justice Department’s recent attempts to deny the existence of the Epstein client list, this seemed too oddly relevant not to share.

Last night, I was reviewing one of my recent research articles to repurpose for another platform. It’s an analysis of the #WhyIDidntReport movement, which gained popularity in 2018 after Dr. Christine Blasey Ford accused Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault.

I was checking links and making sure everything was formatted correctly, as one does when they’re meticulous af.

When I went to cite one quote, “A man’s life is in tatters” (said by Trump about Kavanaugh after the allegations), Google’s AI Overview inexplicably insisted Trump had never said that:

Having done a metric crap-ton of research on this subject just weeks earlier, I absolutely knew this to be a valid quote. Yet when I scrolled past the AI Overview to the actual results, nothing on the first few pages contained anything remotely close to what I was looking for.

I’d love to point out that they couldn’t even find enough nice/inspiring things Trump has said to fill the first page of results. That stolen Victor Frankl quote? Amazing.

When I went back to the AI Overview to look at the source it was supposedly citing about the quote being false, it led to an article written back in 2015 about a completely unrelated (and debunked) Trump meme. The overall call of that article was bizarrely (or maliciously?) to be more suspicious when it comes to anti-Trump messaging.

Failing, as usual, to heed the cryptic warning, I dug into my previous research until I found footage of the rally I was looking for on Youtube (below).

The video has 31k views and was shared by the official account of the Associated Press, so why does AI absolutely insist Trump did not say those words?

Now that I had a more complete quote, I tried searching the entire thing to see if AI would properly attribute it to Trump. Zero results found.

Since I’m a nosy little investigator, I tried a shorter section. Interestingly, while the AI Overview showed completely unrelated results about break-ups, there were a few actual search results that did refer to the quote:

Why didn’t these results show before, and why does Google seem to be so determined not to speak ill of Trump? Is it burying only specific quotes, or is the intention to suppress all negative results related to him?

The tech industry's homogeneous leadership (predominantly white, wealthy men) inevitably shapes our systems in ways that protect their interests and supports their views. This creates an environment where powerful men's reputations are valued over women's safety and dignity.

These systems aren't neutral. They're trained on data curated by humans with inherent biases, then deployed by corporations with financial and political incentives to maintain existing power structures.

When AI systems become the primary way people access information, their biases reflect and amplify existing power structures. The result is AI that systematically protects the powerful while undermining those who challenge them. Yet another oppressive system created and controlled by abusive men.

This sanitization of the historical record has profound implications for democracy and accountability. If we can't access documented evidence of how our leaders speak about victims, how can we hold them accountable for their actions?

Algorithmic bias is actively silencing the legitimate criticism of powerful figures. This is particularly troubling given the context of the quote that sparked this rabbit hole: the dismissal and silencing of sexual assault victims.

This technological dimension adds a new layer to understanding why survivors don't report. By casting doubt on documented statements minimizing sexual assault, these systems contribute to the very culture of disbelief keeping victims silent.

This is why we must remain vigilant against all forms of oppression, including those that come disguised as helpful technology. It’s not about just one quote or one politician, it's about who controls the historical record in the digital age.

…It’s also about the fact that Trump is absolutely on Epstein’s client list.

Anyway, always remember to fact-check and subscribe in case this article gets scrubbed from the internet!