Donald Trump is openly laying the groundwork to rig, challenge, and overturn the midterms. In Big Tech, he’s found a powerful new ally.
With just 4 days until the midterm elections, many in the pro-democracy coalition are feeling pretty good. Polls show Democrats with huge leads; Trump’s approval rating continues to crater with no bottom in sight; Republicans, out of time and short on luck, have been forced to divert their billionaire-funded warchest to defend states and seats once thought to be entirely, indisputably safe.
As the polls have turned on Republicans and the likelihood of an historic, generational landslide for the Democrats appears increasingly probable, Trump and MAGA have become increasingly desperate to rig the 2026 elections by any means necessary — and to dredge up 2020. Again.
Over the last week, Trump has massively ramped up his claims of yet-to-be-committed voter fraud across the country and laid the groundwork to mobilize a whole-of-government effort to challenge and overturn as many elections as possible. He’s used his executive power to restrict access to mail-in voting, sought to send MAGA-friendly federal poll watchers across the country on Election Day, and even had his political appointees direct DHS to obtain and hack a voting machine just like the ones that tens of millions of Americans will be voting on — ostensibly to try and prove massive fraud in 2020, or to set the stage for 2026.
But just 7 days before the midterm elections, we learned that some of the biggest tech companies in the country have begun to capitulate to Trump’s election denialism.
Screenshots began flying across the internet of Google’s Gemini chatbot refusing to answer who won the 2020 election — or more importantly, who didn’t. This is also hardly the only example of Google capitulating to Trump. In 2025, Google was one of the first corporations to bow to Trump’s bloviating when they changed the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America on Google Maps. They changed the name of Lake Ontario to Lake America in 2026, too. Sundar Pichai, the CEO of Google, has been so subservient to the Dear Leader that Trump said Sundar would do “what I say” at a rally recently.
Google, quick to try and save face, called the chatbot’s refusal to say who won in 2020 a “technical gap” relating to new guidelines surrounding election-related inquiries as part of a broader effort to combat misinformation. Yet somehow, that technical gap only happened with respect to the 2020 election that Trump lost. The “guidelines” designed somehow managed to say that Trump won in 2016 and 2024. So rather than minimizing disinformation, Google amplified it.
This is not a “technical gap”. It’s evidence instead of why we should all be terrified.
In 2020, Donald Trump was a pariah in many elite circles. CEOs didn’t like him, tech bosses despised him, and institutions barely tolerated him. But in 2026, he’s either replaced, glad-handed, or intimidated anyone who once stood in his path. He’s forged an unholy alliance with tech billionaires and filled the DOJ with bloodthirsty, cutthroat MAGA loyalists willing to wield the law as a sword to keep Trump and his allies in power.
Despite the fact that the 2026 elections aren’t even over, Trump and MAGA have already moved to overturn election results that haven’t happened. Trump’s DOJ has demanded states hand over confidential, identifying details on registered voters under the guise of “election integrity.” In North Carolina, Republicans have tossed out tens of thousands of absentee ballots because of unsealed inner envelopes and closed on-campus polling locations at 3 of the state’s largest universities.. There are now multiple emerging reports that U.S. National Guard units in all 50 states are preparing to mobilize ahead of next week’s elections.
But that’s only the beginning.
Donald Trump and his MAGA allies are getting ready to wage a massive war of disinformation in the hours, days, and weeks following the election — only, unlike 2020, they will have an unquestioningly loyal DOJ and GOP behind their efforts.
The truth is November 4th is just as important as November 3rd. We have to be ready to relentlessly defend our democracy and demand our elected officials — no matter who they are or to what party they belong — certify the results of the elections, regardless of who wins or loses.
The polls may look good, turnout may seem strong, and Trump may appear more unpopular than ever, but this election ain’t over ‘til it’s over. And even then, Trump is liable to try and steal it anyways.
To stop him, our message can’t just be a blue puddle. It needs to be a blue tsunami that reaches into the deepest, reddest parts of America and removes from office anyone who pledges loyalty to Trump and Trump alone.
Take your friends, family, neighbors, and perfect strangers to the polls. Go to a phone or text bank, canvass in your area, volunteer as a poll worker, and most importantly, stay involved and stay informed.
41 million Americans have already cast their ballots. The next 4 days are the most consequential of this entire election, and we have to give it everything we have. And then some.
We’ll see you out there.
Gemini also refuses to call the ongoing genocide in the West Bank a genocide. I guess that’s something lots of bots have in common.