--- title: Donald Trump Tops Google Images Searches for 'Idiot' description: Protestors are gaming the Google algorithm so that when users search 'idiot,' images of President Trump pop up on Google Images. canonical: https://time.com/5342602/donald-trump-idiot-google/ author: Casey Quackenbush article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-07-19T03:31:48.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-12T09:34:52.197Z og:title: Anti-Trump Activists Are Gaming Google Searches for 'Idiot' og:description: Protestors hope to influence Google Images' algorithm og:url: https://time.com/5342602/donald-trump-idiot-google/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt979b6d93127fdf57/698935af0a4a226ce49d3392/gettyimages-1001241600.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4500 og:image:height: 2531 og:image:alt: President Trump Holds A Cabinet Meeting og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Anti-Trump Activists Are Gaming Google Searches for 'Idiot' twitter:description: Protestors hope to influence Google Images' algorithm twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt979b6d93127fdf57/698935af0a4a226ce49d3392/gettyimages-1001241600.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Protestors Are Gaming Google Images So When You Search 'Idiot,' President Trump Appears > Sponsored content. 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Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=1ab29516-5b79-43df-9e4d-b07ad0f7108a&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: 1 Year Later: President Donald Trump's Most Controversial Remarks [Watch (HLS stream): 1 Year Later: President Donald Trump's Most Controversial Remarks](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/KXGhnVO8.m3u8) (3:29)  _Published 2017-11-08. 1 Year Later: President Donald Trump's Most Controversial Remarks_ by [Casey Quackenbush](https://time.com/author/casey-quackenbush/) ## Casey Quackenbush Jul 19, 2018 3:31 AM UTC 1 Year Later: President Donald Trump's Most Controversial Remarks by [Casey Quackenbush](https://time.com/author/casey-quackenbush/) ## Casey Quackenbush Jul 19, 2018 3:31 AM UTC First President Trump topped protests across London as a [giant baby blimp](http://time.com/5331447/trump-baby-inflatable-london-khan/). Now, he’s topping Google Images. Protestors, activists and Internet users are seeking to influence Google’s algorithm so that when the term “idiot” is searched for, images of Trump pop up on Google. [According](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/jul/17/trump-idiot-google-images-search) to the _Guardian_, this began when British protestors used the Green Day hit “American Idiot” as the anthem for their demonstrations during Trump’s recent [visit to the U.K](http://time.com/5338370/trump-london-protests/). But now more users are taking advantage of that online association by up-voting a picture of Trump and the word “idiot” on Reddit. As of Wednesday night, nine of the first ten results on Google Images searches for “idiot” were of or related to President Trump. This is not the first time [Google algorithms](http://time.com/5318918/search-results-engine-google-bias-trusted-sources/) have been manipulated. In 2004, searching “Jew” returned a hook-nosed caricature. [In 2009](http://edition.cnn.com/2009/TECH/11/25/google.michelle.obama.controversy-2/), searching “Michelle Obama” returned users a photo of the first lady retouched with ape-like traits. And before the last U.S. election, googling “rapist” would likely return at least five images of Bill Clinton in the top 10, the _Guardian_ reports. ## Transcript [00:00] [ MUSIC ] [00:02] Do [00:05] you [00:08] want to include the Congressional Black Caucus and [00:11] the Congressional [ CROSSTALK ] Well, I would. I tell [00:12] you what. Do you want to set up the meeting? Do you [00:14] want to set up the meeting? No, no, no. I'm just a [00:16] reporter. Are they friends of yours? No, set up the [00:18] meeting. I know some of [00:26] them. [00:33] [ MUSIC ] [00:40] [ MUSIC ] [00:47] The past 17 years Obamacare has wreaked havoc on [00:51] the lives of innocent hard- working Americans. [01:20] [ MUSIC ] [ MUSIC ] Best not make anymore threats [01:24] to the United States. They will be met with [01:28] fire and fury like the world has never [01:33] seen. I think there's blame on both sides, and I have [01:36] no doubt about it. And you had some very bad people [01:39] in that group. But you also had people that were Very [01:44] fine people on both sides. The only people giving a [01:48] platform to these hate groups is the media itself [01:52] and the fake news. Sheriff Joe, he's done a great [01:56] job for the people of Arizona. He is very strong on [01:59] borders. [ MUSIC ] I thought he was treated [02:01] unbelievably unfairly. Wouldn't you love to see one [02:04] these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our [02:08] flag, to say get that son of a [ BLEEP ] off the field right [02:12] now. Out. He's fired. He's fired. If [02:17] you look at a real catastrophe like Katrina [02:22] and you look at the tremendous hundreds and [02:24] hundreds and hundreds of people that died. Now what [02:27] is your death count as of this moment? 17. 16 [02:31] certified. Sixteen people certified. 16 people versus in [02:35] the thousands. Obamacare's finished, it's dead, it's [02:39] gone. It's no longer, you shouldn't even mention it. [02:42] Mention it, it's gone. There is no such thing as [02:44] Obamacare anymore. If you look at President Obama [02:47] and other presidents, most of them didn't make calls, [02:52] a lot of them didn't make calls. I like to call when it's [02:54] appropriate, when I think I am able to do it. Earlier you [02:57] said that President Obama never called the families of [03:00] fallen soldiers, how can you make that claim? I don't [03:02] know if he did did, no, no, no. Between 1 and 10, how [03:02] would you grade the White House response so far to [03:04] [ UNKNOWN ] I'd say it was a 10. This [03:08] is a mental health problem at the highest level. This [03:12] isn't a guns situation, I mean we could [03:16] go into it, but it's a little bit soon to go into it, but [03:19] Fortunately somebody else had a gun that was [03:21] shooting in the opposite direction. Otherwise it [03:23] wouldn't have been as bad as it was, it would have [03:25] been much worse. 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