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.

U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-NY, joined by House Democrats, speaks at an event on affordability on the steps of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Sept. 16, 2026. Getty Images

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.

Democratic members of the U.S. House, including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., hold a hearing on the fifth anniversary of the Jan. 6, 2021, attacks on the U.S. Capitol, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Jan. 6, 2026. AFP via Getty Images

MRC researchers found that 78 different outlets published stories about the DNC’s debt during the period they examined, yet none of the articles appeared among Apple News’ top 20 promoted stories.

At least 14 stories from publications that Apple News frequently promotes were also not featured, including USA Today, The Guardian, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, Fox News, Politico and the New York Post.

Apple News has roughly 125 million monthly users and is pre-installed on Apple devices, giving the platform enormous reach. Stories promoted by the service can generate anywhere from 1 million to 20 million page views, according to the MRC.

“Our study found Apple News suppressing coverage of the Democratic Party’s fundraising woes while eagerly serving up stories damaging to Republicans,” Bozell said.

The latest analysis is not the first time the watchdog group has accused Apple News of exhibiting a left-leaning bias.

MRC previously found that Apple News failed to promote coverage of scandals involving former Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner and current Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed.

Other MRC analyses have accused Apple News’ editors of disproportionately promoting left-leaning outlets, while excluding conservative news outlets from its top 20 morning stories.

Unlike Google News and Microsoft’s MSN, which rely heavily on algorithms to curate stories, Apple News uses human editors to select much of the content that appears on its platform.

For its latest analysis, MRC researchers examined the top 20 stories promoted by Apple News at 8:30 a.m. from Jan. 1 through Sept. 28 using search terms including: “DNC,” “RNC,” “Democrat,” “Martin,” “Fundraising,” “FEC,” “Debt,” “Deficit,” and “National Committee.”

Researchers then searched online for stories about the DNC’s debt that Apple News could have promoted during those daily top 20 selections. They identified 78 potential stories and then narrowed those down to 10 from outlets that Apple News routinely features, confirming that the publishers were available on the platform.