Trump accuses Google 2016 vote manipulation

US President Donald Trump alleged Monday that Google manipulated millions of voters into supporting former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election, saying the company “should be sued” in his latest attack on the tech giant.

The president in a tweet referenced the work of a controversial psychologist who has claimed to have found evidence that Google’s search algorithms have been influencing voters, according to The Hill.

“Wow, Report Just Out! Google manipulated from 2.6 million to 16 million votes for Hillary Clinton in 2016 Election!” Trump wrote. “This was put out by a Clinton supporter, not a Trump Supporter! Google should be sued. My victory was even bigger than thought!”

Wow, Report Just Out! Google manipulated from 2.6 million to 16 million votes for Hillary Clinton in 2016 Election! This was put out by a Clinton supporter, not a Trump Supporter! Google should be sued. My victory was even bigger than thought! @JudicialWatch

Trump appears to be referring to the work of Robert Epstein, a researcher with a group based in Vista, Calif., called the American Institute for Behavioral Research and Technology. Epstein testified in a Senate hearing in June about what he calls the “Search Engine Manipulation Effect” and claimed that his research shows Google’s search results pushed at least 2.6 million people to vote for Clinton in 2016.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai was asked about Epstein’s work last year when he testified before a House panel and said the company had investigated it and pointed to issues with the study’s methodology.

In a statement on Monday, a Google spokesperson called Epstein's claim "debunked," pointing out it has been circulating for three years.

"This researcher's inaccurate claim has been debunked since it was made in 2016," the spokesperson said. "As we stated then, we have never re-ranked or altered search results to manipulate political sentiment."

"Our goal is to always provide people with access to high quality, relevant information for their queries, without regard to political viewpoint," they added.

In 2017, Google dismissed Epstein’s research, telling The Washington Postthat it amounts to “nothing more than a poorly constructed conspiracy theory.”

Conservatives have increasingly hurled allegations that social media companies like Facebook and Google are censoring right-wing voices, though they’ve offered little evidence to support their suspicions.

Google and others have all denied that politics plays any role in how they moderate content. 

Trump's latest attack comes as he is rehashing unfounded allegations of massive voter fraud in the 2016 election.

Earlier Wednesday, the chairwoman of the Federal Election Commission doubled down on her call for Trump to stop making claims of election fraud unless he can show evidence it happened.

“Facts matter, and people of America need to be able to believe what their leaders tell them,” Ellen Weintraub, a Democrat, said on CNN’s “New Day.”

Weintraub sent a letter to Trump on Saturday demanding he provide evidence to support his claim that he would have won New Hampshire’s electoral votes in 2016 if not for voter fraud, or stop repeating the accusation.