Secretary of War Pete Hegseth ignited a firestorm earlier this month after comparing anti-American media coverage to the Pharisees’ plot against Jesus, a striking rebuke that put the spotlight squarely on how the war is being framed at home.
PULPIT AND POLITICS: @SecWar Pete Hegseth delivers a scathing sermon on the “hardened hearts” of the media, comparing the “legacy Trump hating press” to the Pharisees of the New Testament.
“You see, the Pharisees, the so-called and self-appointed elites of their time, they were… pic.twitter.com/Jrev91LqBL
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And he might not have been too far off…
A new analysis from the Media Research Center claims the country’s biggest news aggregation platforms pushed a sharply one-sided narrative during the early weeks of the Iran conflict.
According to the report, Apple News, Google News, MSN and Yahoo News collectively surfaced 634 articles from left-leaning outlets compared to just 41 from right-leaning sources over a 50-day stretch beginning the day after hostilities with Iran escalated.
That’s roughly a 15-to-1 imbalance.
One example highlighted in the study: Google News prominently featured a The New York Times headline suggesting President Donald Trump’s rhetoric on Iran could amount to “self-incrimination for potential war crimes.”
Critics argue that kind of framing wasn’t an outlier.
The report alleges that in the top 20 morning story lineups across these platforms between March 1 and April 19, coverage of the Iran conflict skewed heavily toward outlets using negative or alarmist language about U.S. military action.
Supporters of the administration say that emphasis overshadowed what they describe as clear battlefield success and strategic gains against Tehran’s regime.
The broader concern centers on influence.
News aggregation apps don’t just reflect coverage—they shape what millions of Americans see first. By prioritizing certain outlets and headlines, critics say, they can tilt public perception during pivotal moments of foreign policy and war.
MRC’s Findings:
- The Big Four News Apps all but shut out right-leaning coverage of the Iran conflict, restricting it to under 5% of total stories on the war (897) from AllSides-rated outlets, as left-leaning and other outlets dominated the narrative. Outlets like CNN, The Associated Press, The New York Times, CBS, The Guardian, NBC, The Washington Post, and even Al Jazeera, Bloomberg, and Salon enjoyed prominent placements.
- Apple News: 232 stories — just 2 right-leaning vs. 143 left-leaning
- Google News: 371 stories — 10 right-leaning vs. 284 left-leaning
- Microsoft’s MSN: 136 stories — 22 right-leaning vs. 67 left-leaning
- Yahoo News: 157 stories — 7 right-leaning vs. 139 left-leaning
- The Big Four News Apps’ coverage distorted major developments in the conflict, portraying the Trump administration as unprepared.
- The stories rarely included in their headlines a mention of the unparalleled success of the military action, including the complete destruction of the Iranian military capabilities and the elimination of its top command.
In response to these findings, MRC President David Bozell said: “We’re looking at one of the most effective military campaigns in modern history, Iran’s navy crippled, its air force grounded, its leadership dismantled, yet the Big Four News Apps, alongside the elitist media, are working overtime to undermine President Trump. It should outrage every American that Trump and Secretary Hegseth are fighting an information war at home while preventing Iran’s regime from obtaining a nuclear weapon.”
More over at MRC:
Secretary Hegseth was right—the media is filled with Pharisees… pic.twitter.com/mj2JGHY6KN
— DOW Rapid Response (@DOWResponse) April 30, 2026
