Exclusive | Apple News hid stories about how broke the DNC is ahead of the midterms, watchdog alleges
Apple News allegedly failed to promote a single story about the Democratic National Committee’s financial woes among its top 20 stories over nearly nine months, according to a new analysis by the Media Research Center.The watchdog group found that none of the 78 stories it identified about the DNC’s mounting debt were promoted by Apple News from Jan.1 through Sept.
28 — just weeks before the 2026 midterm elections.“Apple isn’t curating the news,” David Bozell, president of the MRC, said.“It’s running a high-tech protection racket for the political left.”The findings come as Democrats grapple with the party’s financial struggles heading into the midterms and less than a year after the DNC disclosed millions of dollars in debt.In December 2025, the DNC blamed nearly $16 million in debt on the failed 2024 Biden-Harris campaign, according to Federal Election Commission filings.Kamala Harris’ failed 2024 presidential campaign spent roughly $1.5 billion, while the DNC was left with $20.5 million in debt.
The party then took out a $15 million loan in October 2025 to support off-year gubernatorial elections in Virginia and New Jersey.Despite Democrats’ victories in both states, the DNC entered 2026 with $17.5 million in debt, the New York Times first reported.“For years, the media lectured Americans about ‘dirty money in politics’ whenever Republicans had the fundraising advantage,” Bozell said.“Now Democrats are facing a financial mess of their own making, and suddenly the story isn’t worth telling.The last time the DNC reported debt at a similar level was in 2014, when the party owed roughly $16 million.The financial troubles have fueled calls to oust DNC Chairman Ken Martin, while some donors have redirected money to other liberal groups.
Several Democrats even began questioning the party’s “very purpose entirely,” according to Politico.The Republican National Committee, meanwhile, has $230 million in the bank and no debt.MRC...