A new analysis from the Media Research Center (MRC) alleges that Apple News declined to promote any of 78 news stories detailing the Democratic National Committee’s deepening financial troubles in the run-up to the 2026 midterm elections.
The MRC reviewed Apple News’ top 20 stories from January 1 through September 28 and found none referenced the DNC’s debt, according to the analysis obtained by the New York Post. September 28 falls roughly five weeks before the midterms and nearly a year after the DNC first disclosed its financial shortfall.
MRC President David Bozell characterized the omission bluntly. “Apple isn’t curating the news,” he said. “It’s running a high-tech protection racket for the political left.”
According to the MRC, at least 14 relevant stories came from outlets Apple News regularly features, including USA Today, the Guardian, the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, and Politico — yet none of those pieces on the DNC’s debt made the platform’s promoted list.
“Our study found Apple News suppressing coverage of the Democratic Party’s fundraising woes while eagerly serving up stories damaging to Republicans,” Bozell told the Post.
Bozell noted that stories Apple News chooses to promote can draw between 1 million and 20 million page views, underscoring the platform’s reach. Unlike Google News and Microsoft’s MSN, which rely heavily on algorithms, Apple News uses human editors to select much of what appears on its service.
The scale of the DNC’s debt
The DNC’s financial troubles trace back to the 2024 Biden-Harris campaign, which the committee blamed late last year for contributing to a debt load of nearly $16 million. Kamala Harris’ 2024 presidential campaign reportedly spent around $1.5 billion, and by its end the DNC was left with $20.5 million in debt.
In October 2025, the DNC took out a $15 million loan to help fund gubernatorial races. The committee entered 2026 with $17.5 million in debt, according to a report by the New York Times.
By contrast, the Republican National Committee reported $230 million in the bank and no debt.
Bozell argued the disparity in coverage reflects a double standard. “For years, the media lectured Americans about ‘dirty money in politics’ whenever Republicans had the fundraising advantage,” he told the Post. “Now Democrats are facing a financial mess of their own making, and suddenly the story isn’t worth telling.”
The DNC’s money troubles have already stirred internal turmoil, with mounting calls for DNC Chairman Ken Martin to step down amid reports that he has grown increasingly isolated within the party, at one point throwing a phone at a junior aide’s desk in frustration.
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