“Ninety-Six Percent of Google Search Results for ‘Trump’ News Are from Liberal Media Outlets.” This probably doesn’t come as a surprise, but it’s now been documented in a couple of different research projects. Social media companies are the new battleground for media bias. It is because of the reach they have. Facebook has 1.5 billion people. Twitter is not far behind. You throw Google with their search engine and YouTube in there and there is active suppression of conservatism and conservatives on all of these platforms.

There is not an engagement of ideas. There is an elimination of ideas. This is exactly what has been happening. You know, people from the McCain wing of the party say, “We need to cross the aisle! We need to debate. We need to show that we can work together and compromise. We need to prove that we can make Washington and government work.” I always said, “They’re not interested in compromising with us! They don’t want any debate. They don’t want a level playing field. They don’t want us on the playing field.”

Well, that is exactly what’s happening on social media. There isn’t this vibrant so-called beautiful, wonderful smorgasbord of ideas where people get to exchange and debate and expand their minds. There is an ongoing effort to eliminate anything that is not from the liberal order, which would mean eliminating conservatives, conservatism, conservative sites, conservative results and search engines. I know it’s not news to you that this has been going on.

But official research now has documented 96% of Google search results… Just put “Trump” in the search field; 96% of the results will be from liberal media outlets. Not find on the first one, two, three pages any conservative site. Now, you are sophisticated enough and aware enough to recognize that and see it. But how about the average, ordinary people that just are not policy wonks? They think whatever they see on the internet is true and whatever Google produces is accurate.

It is a massive effort being undertaken that has as its purpose the elimination of conservatism by simply pretending it doesn’t exist. Project Veritas, their secret videos at Twitter proving that they engage in shadow banning? Now if you mention that, if you bring that up, people start pooh-poohing you and laughing. “What do you mean, ‘shadow banning’? You’re crazy! You don’t know anything.” Shadow banning is very simple. You’re a conservative, you post something on Twitter, and nobody sees it. Twitter blocks it.

It does not go to the list of people you sent it to, doesn’t go to your followers. They just block it. Except you don’t know. You don’t know it hasn’t gone anywhere, and the people you sent it to never see it. It never arrives. It never shows up in their feed. Voila! They have shadow banned you — and this is a rising practice that’s taking place. It’s happening at Facebook. Shadow banning is specific to Twitter. This has caused a response. Trump sent a couple of tweets:

“Google search results for ‘Trump News’ shows only the viewing/reporting of Fake News Media. In other words, they have it RIGGED, for me & others, so that almost all stories & news is BAD. Fake CNN is prominent. Republican/Conservative & Fair Media is shut out. Illegal? 96% of results on ‘Trump News’ are from National Left-Wing Media, very dangerous. Google & others are suppressing voices of Conservatives and hiding information and news that is good. They are controlling what we can & cannot see. This is a very serious situation-will be addressed!

What’s he gonna do about it? (interruption) No, no. I’m serious. How’s he gonna fix this? I mean, these people, you can’t go at ’em on First Amendment. They’re not government. They can do what they want. They can run their businesses however they want. If they want to engage in a mass sanctioning of conservatives and conservatism — I mean, in the general sense — they can do it. What would force their hand is public pressure, financial pressure, or what have you.

But they’re not gonna get any pressure from other leftists. Other leftists are applauding this. This is exactly what liberalism is. It’s not something that relishes the idea of debate. They want to eliminate any and all opposition. They don’t want to have to deal with it, period. There is no just opposition. There is nothing other than what they believe, and it’s a nuisance to have to put up with it and admit it. So we’ll see.

The president’s promising some kind of action on this.

In fact, from the Washington Examiner: “Trump Threatens Action Against Google for Rigged Search Results.” So I guess because the president is using Twitter now as a bully pulpit to bring attention to an extremely important… And it is dangerous. Social media companies are censoring mainstream political thinkers and writers and elected officials. Conservatives. It’s just evidence, again, that the left cannot prevail, even in their own minds, without cheating. They cannot thrive, survive, or win without cheating. They now have built up these social media platforms that are so huge that their opportunity to cheat is massive each and every day.

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: So I knew this was gonna happen. I got a little snarky email. I checked it during the break. “You know, Rush, it’s easy for you to say sitting there as the number one radio guy how you don’t need social media, but how are young people today first starting out supposed to do it?” I understand that. That’s why I tried to rein it in even though Mr. Snerdley didn’t want me to rein it in.

But let me ask a question, and I don’t mean this to sound self-serving. As in the case with every question I ask, this is a tutorial. This is a teachable moment. Where is this radio program, folks? In the big scheme of American Media, where is it? It’s on AM radio. It’s on 650 AM radio stations with some FMs thrown in. In addition I have a burgeoning, rapidly expanding, growing website, with a state-of-the-art iOS and Android app. And it is state-of-the-art. It’s state-of-the-art in the way it operates, state-of-the-art in the way it looks. That’s it.

This is the most listened to radio talk show in the country, and the audience of this radio show is far greater than your average cable television audience. Now, how is that possible? I’m serious. This is not bragging, even though if you can do it, it isn’t bragging. I’m simply asking. This is not supposed to be possible today. And yet it is! And it’s been this way for 30 years. How does this happen?

How can this program happen with no social media profile, with no Facebook, Twitter, this or that used to promote me or the program, how does this happen? And then AM radio? Why, that medium is considered to be old and worn out and tired. And yet one of the largest media programs in the country utilizes it. How is this possible? I’m just asking. It’s a think piece. This is, as I say, I’m not trying to call attention to myself. I’m asking this question within the context of things we have talked about on the program today.

And, by the way, Google is as unfair to this program as it is to anything else when it comes to returning search results. Google and the rest of the Drive-By Media have spent 30 years attempting to destroy this program, the host, the host’s credibility, all of that, like they have tried on practically every other prominent conservative figure. And yet here we are. I myself have even tried to do great damage this program. Unintentionally. And I found out that not even I can do it! Unintentionally, folks. (laughing) I didn’t purposely set out. But you people hang in there, is the point. Why? And you people find this program on AM radio.

Now, some of you watch the Dittocam. Some of you listen to it on the app. Some of you tune in, stream it on the net, however you choose to get it. But we’re here on AM radio. Not even on satellite. “Yeah, Rush, why aren’t you on satellite?” I get that a lot too. Business decision. I wouldn’t be where I am were it not for these 650 radio stations, folks. It’s that simple. It’s called loyalty. And there’s no reason. “Yeah, but, Rush, you can modernize and you could make yourself even more available.”

You know what we’re proving here? People will go, if they want something, they will go where it is. That shall be key number one in your answering the question here that I’m posing. But all I’m saying is I am not supposed to be possible right now, simply because of the modern-day mores and considerations of modern-day media. And yet here we are. The point is it can be done. And even though I had a head start on social media and I got to establish myself before social media, it still had to happen. And it can happen outside of social media.

You can succeed without Facebook and Twitter today. In fact, Larry Kudlow’s weighed in on this whole notion. Google’s a different thing. Google is truly, truly, truly fact destructive. Google as a search engine has a phenomenal impact on the, I guess you’d say, the consummate knowledge base of the American people. Well, Netscape was a Web browser. Google is a massive content company. Well, actually it’s a massive advertising company. But search was pathetic ’til Google came along and made it.

And since they were innovators in that regard — look, they’re privately held, they’re a bunch of commies, and they can run their business however they wish. And if they’ve decided that they’re gonna target every conservative out there, then there are recourses here. It’s called antitrust. Anyway, listen to Kudlow. Kudlow’s chairman of the economic advisers for Trump, and this was at the White House this afternoon. National Economic Council director, actually, and here’s Kudlow speaking to the press with an unidentified reporter about regulating Google.

REPORTER: What are you looking into specifically?

KUDLOW: We’re just doing some investigation and some analysis. That’s what we do.

REPORTER: Is there any evidence that they actually are censoring anyone’s search results?

KUDLOW: We’re looking into it.

RUSH: Now, Google is denying it. You should know this. After Trump said what he said, that 92% of the search results when you put “Trump” in the search field, 92%’s negative and hate-filled, Google is denying that they do anything. They’re flat-out denying it. They are denying that they tilt their search results at all.

Now, we know that that’s not true. But that’s the starting point, they deny. What do you expect them to say? They’re not gonna come out and say, “Yeah, yeah, we’re working with Obama and Hillary to destroy all of you people, and we can’t wait ’til you’re gone! And our plans call for you to be a nonfactor inside of 10 years. Deal with it.” They’re not gonna say that. They’re just gonna do it. Or try to.

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: This is Geno. Geno is in Las Vegas. Geno, great to have you on the Rush Limbaugh program today. Hi.

CALLER: Hi, Rush.

RUSH: Hey.

HBO, Showtime, all this stuff, all of the stuff that streams through the internet is terrible. I’m sick of it, and that’s the reason the FCC should have the same rules they used to have in the old days, Standards and Practices on all the television stations. They should put it on cable and the internet. That’s my opinion. I think that they’ve got senators on both sides right in their pockets, and that’s why there’s no pressure to stop it. They don’t take that into consideration.

RUSH: You know, people have been trying this. I can remember when Tipper Gore lined up with the James Baker’s wife to clean up the internet. Remember that? They had hearings, Senate hearings and so forth worrying about obscenities and bad lyrics. At that time it was in rap music, Cop Killer lyrics and, you know, “raping hos” and that kind of stuff lyrics. Algore’s wife (ex-wife now) and James Baker’s wife and others have spent a lot of time trying to regulate decency in terms of language on television in prime time under the theory that that’s over the air and that’s therefore regulated.

Cable, as you alluded to I believe, is not regulated ’cause it’s not over the air, see? The airwaves are considered public. They’re yours and mine. Therefore, the government can regulate them. But cable, it’s just on a wire. You have to make a special effort to find it and get it. So there really isn’t any regulatory control over that. I agree with you it is a problem. It’s a great, great indicator of the decline certain elements of culture. But I don’t think any effort to clean it up is gonna get very far, and I don’t want the government doing it. No way. That’s speech, baby. I just…