ICYMI: Today, Pretend President Donald Trump feuded with an algorithm after Googling his own name.
Today the Trump administration threatened to regulate Google and internet search results, based on an early morning vanity search by Donald Trump. Democrats and Republicans said that would be a violation of free speech protections. So, Trump's "re-election campaign" [aka slush fund for whatever he wants] went and fundraised off the whole thing.
It's so dumb.
Trump tweeted this morning, "Google search results for 'Trump News' shows only the viewing/reporting of Fake New Media."
Then, as our Rob writes, the internet freaked out.
And then, as Tony Romm at the Washington Post reports, the grift was revealed:
Conservatives' attacks have intensified as the 2018 election has drawn closer. Trump has tweeted three times since late July about "discriminatory" practices at Twitter and social media sites more broadly. His tweets Tuesday doubled as a new way to appeal to his supporters: Hours after he sent them, Trump's campaign cited his attack on Google in a text message asking voters to donate ahead of a key fundraising deadline. At least one lawmaker, House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy, has purchased fundraising ads on Facebook that call attention to anti-conservative censorship online. A spokesman for McCarthy did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
"They're using the platforms to complain about the platforms," said Michael Beckerman, the president of the Internet Association, which represents Facebook, Google and Twitter in Washington D.C.
