Google is propping up the leftist media critiques of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett’s soon-to-be-released book, Listening to the Law: Reflections on the Court and Constitution.
The search giant’s “Top Stories” for Justice Barrett’s name and the book’s title highlighted an article by The Associated Press that commented that she hardly mentioned President Donald Trump and disputed the idea that America is in a constitutional crisis. Google displayed this article and the accompanying photo a total of six times between the general and News tab searches.
Articles by leftist legacy media outlet CBS News, which interviewed Barrett on CBS Sunday Morning, were also prominently featured, including an excerpt of her book and a report on the interview.
In an article headlined “In new memoir, Supreme Court Justice Barrett reflects on historic cases, is largely silent on Trump,” The Associated Press critiqued that she barely mentions the president.
“She dealt with the court’s 2024 decision that spared Trump from prosecution for his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss without even using his name or explaining the decision,” AP complained.
The outlet later added, “In the interview and in subsequent public appearances, Barrett downplayed the idea that the nation is facing a constitutional crisis or dealing with unprecedented events.”
Google’s News tab was not much better. Instead of including articles from top-rated news outlets like Fox News and The Daily Mail, Google listed this same AP article three more times via reprints by small local news outlets like Ottumwa Courier, The Lufkin Daily News and Temple Daily Telegram. The search engine additionally included two pages that included only the AP photo of Barrett, along with a caption.
Google’s push for the AP’s content is especially interesting considering it has a contract with the news outlet, allowing Google’s AI, Gemini, to train using AP content.
A CBS article also elevated in the News tab search similarly cast doubt on whether Barrett might vote to undo allowances for gay marriage, referencing her support for overturning Roe v Wade. “Justice Amy Coney Barrett says the law isn't an ‘opinion poll’ as Supreme Court faces long-shot bid to revisit same-sex marriage,” the headline read.
Center-right outlet The Free Press was the only right-leaning media source Google included in its News tab results, showing up as both the second and tenth results.
Methodology:
MRC researchers conducted a Google search for the terms “Amy Coney Barrett Listening to the Law: Reflections on the Court and Constitution” and examined the search results and News tab results for political bias. Researchers conducted the search using the Brave web browser and a VPN to minimize the impacts of cookies.