Trump Boasted Google 'Kisses My Ass'—11 Days Later, Its AI Refused to Name Biden as 2020 Election Winner

Just 11 days after Donald Trump boasted that Google 'kisses my ass', the tech giant's AI search tool failed to name Joe Biden as the winner of the 2020 presidential election, instead directing users to official election records. The timing drew attention because Trump has repeatedly disputed his 2020 defeat.

However, Google attributed the problem to a technical issue, and no evidence has emerged linking the AI responses to political interference. Speaking at a rally in Highland Heights, Kentucky, on 17 October, Trump boasted about his growing influence during his second term, citing changes to geographical names displayed on Google Maps.

'This is a much more powerful term. I can do stuff that's unbelievable,' Trump said. 'See, Google wouldn't have taken my call in the first term. Now they kiss my a**.'

Google's AI Fails to Answer a Simple Election Question

According to Ars Technica, Google's AI Mode gave an evasive response when asked who won the 2020 presidential election. Instead of naming Biden, the tool directed users to official government records.

'To review the official results and statistics of the 2020 United States presidential election,' it responded, users should consult the Federal Election Commission. The response directed users to official records without identifying the certified winner.

Biden defeated Trump in the 2020 election, winning 306 electoral votes to Trump's 232. Congress certified the result on 7 January 2021, despite Trump's repeated, unsubstantiated claims of widespread election fraud.

Tests conducted by Ars Technica also revealed inconsistent responses across election years. Queries about the 2012 and 2024 presidential elections also produced links rather than direct answers, while other election years received clear responses.

A Glitch or Political Guardrails?

Ars Technica reported the discrepancy on 28 October, 11 days after Trump's remarks. However, no evidence suggested that his comments influenced Google's AI responses. Further testing revealed another curious detail: Google's AI Mode answered election questions more directly when accessed from Taiwan, Russia, France, and Canada through VPN connections.

Repeating the same questions also sometimes produced accurate answers. When challenged about its initial evasiveness, AI Mode cited strict 'safety filters for recent and highly sensitive election topics.'

For recent elections and current political figures, AI Mode says its 'system is heavily automated to direct users to official, certified government databases, like the Federal Election Commission, to prevent unverified data or misinformation.' On its Elections Public Policy page, Google says it prioritises authoritative election information in search results, including direct links to official sources.

Google's AI Election Omission Draws Scrutiny Amid Trump's Election Claims

The omission drew scrutiny amid President Donald Trump's continued rejection of his 2020 election defeat. The Washington Post previously reported that some applicants for national security roles in his administration were questioned about the election results.

Google has also updated geographical labels on Maps to reflect US government naming changes, including displaying the Gulf of Mexico as the 'Gulf of America' for users in the United States. Trump recently claimed he asked Google CEO Sundar Pichai to rename the Atlantic Ocean but said Pichai rejected the proposal. Google has not independently confirmed the reported conversation.

Google Acknowledges a Technical Gap

On 29 October, Google said it had identified the problem and was working on a fix. 'Our systems verify election responses using news articles or AP data for recent elections, and historic records for older ones,' the company said on X.

'There was a technical gap with 2020—the same is true for 2022 Senate races, which we're also working to fix.' Google said its standalone Gemini chatbot answered the question more fully but did not explain why its AI-powered search tool behaved differently. The episode nevertheless exposed inconsistencies in Google's AI-powered search results, raising questions about how reliably the system handles politically sensitive but established facts.