Apple News faces alleged bias as top executives donated heavily to Democrats

appleFacebook’s popular news app is facing increasing scrutiny over alleged political bias, but the overwhelming left-wing leaning at the top of the company may be a factor.

Of the 25 people listed on Apple’s leadership page, 15 have made significant contributions to Democrats in various election cycles, according to a review of Federal Election Commission filings. Only six Apple executives have any record of contributing to Republicans — although four of them have given much larger sums to Democrats.

Tim CookApple’s CEO, donated $236,100 to the Hillary Victory Fund in 2016 and $2,300 to the President Barack Obamacampaign 2008, According to filings. In 2016, Cook made $10,000 in donations to about 20 state Democratic parties, and was a former donor to the Senate Minority Leader. Chuck SchumerD.N.Y., California Rep. Zoe Lofgren, and now-retired Vermont Sen. Patrick Leahy.

However, Cook also made four-figure campaign contributions to Republicans like former House Speaker Paul Ryan and former Ohio Sen. Rob Portman during the 2016 election cycle. Most recently, he reportedly made a $1 million contribution to President Donald TrumpOpening 2025.

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Apple CEO Tim Cook was a major donor to Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign. (Roberto Schmidt/AFP via Getty Images)

Katherine Adams, Senior Vice President and General Counsel of Apple, I donated more From a combined $200,000 to Kamala Harriscampaign and Victory Fund during the 2024 election. It also gave $10,000 to Biden’s political action committee in 2020 as well as several prominent Democratic lawmakers, including Schumer, Nancy PelosiAdam Schiff, Mark Kelly, and Raphael Warnock. Adams also gave nearly $2,000 to every statewide Democratic party in the country.

deirdre O’Brien, Senior Vice President of Retail + People, and John Ternos, Senior Vice President of Hardware Engineering, both gave thousands to friends of Schumer in 2021 — and O’Brien also donated $250 to John Kerry’s 2004 presidential campaign. Luca MaestriThe vice president for corporate services donated $1,000 to the 2024 campaign of Rep. Jimmy Panetta, D-Calif., and Isabel G. Mahy, who serves as vice president and chief administrative officer for Greater China, donated thousands of dollars to Clinton’s 2016 campaign and $500 to Biden in 2020.

Tor Merinvice president of marketing communications, gave $4,000 to Sen. Tim Kaine, Democrat of Virginia, in 2018. Christine Huggett Coylevice president of global communications, gave more than $5,000 to Clinton’s 2016 campaign. Phil Schiller, listed as an “Apple Fellow” who oversees the App Store and Apple events, donated more than $60,000 to Clinton and Democrats in 2016 and was a donor to Schumer in 2015.

Apple colleague Phil Schiller gave more than $60,000 to Clinton and Democrats in 2016. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Adrian Perica, Vice President of Corporate Development, Donated She gave more than $8,000 to Harris and $1,700 to the Democratic National Committee in September 2024, but later gave $3,300 to the Republican National Committee in October. He also donated to Schumer in 2021 and Clinton in 2016. He also appears to have a recurring donation of $100 to Win the Era PAC founded by Pete Buttigieg, starting in July 2025.

Likewise, Apple’s board is filled with Democratic donors. Apple Chairman Arthur Levinson donated to Al Gore’s presidential campaign and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee during the 2000 election cycle and to Joe Lieberman’s campaign in 2004. He later made contributions of $1,250 to both the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) and the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) in 2008.

Marsha Blackburn writes to Apple CEO seeking answers about news app’s alleged bias

Many of Levinson’s colleagues on the board have far exceeded him in terms of political donations. In addition to Cook, who also serves as a board member, Monica Lozano, former CEO of the College Futures Foundation, has donated more than $50,000 to Joe Biden And Democrats during the 2020 cycle, from $ 8,000 to a Hillary Clinton PAC in 2016 and more than $600 to Democratic parties across 15 states.

Andrea Young, president and CEO of the 501 nonprofit microfinance group Grameen America, Donated $100,000 to the Harris Victory Fund in 2024, $50,000 to the Biden Action Fund in 2020, and more than $30,000 to the Obama Victory Fund in 2008. In addition to the hundreds of thousands of dollars she has allocated to the Democratic National Committee and the fundraising arms of Democrats in the House and Senate, Young has contributed more than $1,000 to the Democratic Party in nearly all 50 states and financially. Supported congressional candidates such as New Jersey Senator. Cory BookerFormer New Jersey Senate candidate Tammy Murphy and former Florida Representative Donna Shalala.

Apple board member Andrea Jung has donated a whopping $100,000 to the Harris Victory Fund during the 2024 election. (Mark Kozlarich/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Ronald Sugar, former CEO of Northrop Grumman, Donated Thousands of dollars to the campaigns of Schumer, the late California Senator Dianne Feinstein, Virginia Senator Mark Warner, former Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu, and former California Representative Jean Hartman, in addition to the late Senator Lieberman between 2002 and 2008. Sugar notably netted $5,000 for the National Republican Congressional Committee in 2004 and $1,000 for Republican Senator Pat Roberts. Susan Wagner, a director and co-founder of BlackRock, ran a $2,000 campaign input To retiring Democratic Senator from South Dakota Tim Johnson in 2012.

Only two members of Apple’s leadership have donated to the Republican Party, but they haven’t done so in at least a decade. Eddie Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of services who specifically oversees Apple News, donated about $8,000 to Paul Ryan during the 2016 cycle, and board member Alex Gorsky, the former head of Johnson & Johnson, gave $1,000 to the late Sen. John McCain’s 2008 campaign and an additional $250 to the Republican National Committee at the time.

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It’s not just the senior leadership that overwhelmingly supports Democrats. More than 95% of political contributions from Apple employees went to Democrats while less than 5% went to Republicans during the 2024 election cycle, according to Open Secrets. Harris earned nearly $2 million from employees. Trump raised less than $73,000. Likewise, Apple employees sent the Democratic National Committee more than $550,000 in contributions in the last election cycle, while the Republican National Committee received less than $10,000.

Apple did not immediately respond Fox News DigitalRequest for comment.

The Apple News app pre-installed on all iPhones is facing scrutiny for its alleged political bias. (Gabe Jones/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Earlier this month, a study by the conservative watchdog group the Center for Media Research found that Apple News, the popular news aggregator that comes preinstalled on every iPhone in America, overwhelmingly promotes content from liberal outlets.

The study examined content on Apple News throughout January. Of the 620 stories shared between January 1 and January 31, 440 came from outlets classified as left-leaning, while 180 originated from centrist media outlets. According to the study, the zero originated from right-leaning outlets.

FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson sent a letter to Cook expressing concern about the alleged bias and suggesting that Apple News violated Section 5 of the FTC Act, which prohibits unfair or deceptive acts or practices.

“the First Amendment Protects the speech of big tech companies. But the First Amendment never extended its protection to include material misrepresentations made to consumers, nor does it immunize speakers from conduct that Congress finds unfair under the FTC Act, even if that conduct involves speech.

Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., also sent a letter to Cook asking for answers about how content on Apple News is selected.

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