Google “immediately” censored Trump-themed ads, but not Harris ads, executives say

Grant Cardone, a popular real estate investor and private equity fund manager, has been uploading entrepreneurial videos and monetized advertising to Google-owned YouTube since 2007.

But over the past six months, increasingly vocal support of former President Donald Trump and discussions of his and Democratic nominee Vice President Kamala Harris’ respective policies on the social platform have reportedly gotten him into trouble. Cardone claims Google “immediately” flagged his content for an image of Trump and waited nearly two weeks before reporting content featuring Harris.

“We are not new to advertising. We’re new to what’s happened over the last eight or nine months since I became a very strong Trump supporter.” [have] “We’re going to make this more public,” Cardone told Fox News Digital on Wednesday.

“We directed advertising traffic to a new YouTube channel – again, we weren’t selling any product or service – specifically to make people aware of these 10X Studios.” [YouTube] Channel that features essentially entrepreneurial content to help Americans learn new ways to become entrepreneurs and manage money and business.”

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“We’ve had more account suspensions and ad disapprovals in the last six months for ads that have been running for 18 months,” Jarrod Glandt, president of Cardone Enterprises, told Fox Digital.

“We just had two more accounts suspended on Monday, both on Meta and Google, than we have had in the last 10 years of driving traffic online,” Glandt said. “I’ve never seen anything like this before. I had it checked by external agencies. They can’t figure it out. It’s completely absurd.”

In a now-viral Instagram Reel posted earlier this month, Cardone explained how his 10X Studios account had uploaded an original 10X brand advertisement when an automated Google check revealed the video was due to “election advertising.” “was not eligible for monetization” until Cardone allegedly changed the title and thumbnail of a video to show Kamala Harris. The version featuring Harris ran from September 4th to 11th, and Google did not flag and remove that ad until September 17th, Cardone claimed.

“[We] just shift traffic awareness to a free channel. So we couldn’t figure out what it was. And then I said, “Hey, any chance it’s Trump’s thumbnail?”…Take out the Trump picture and replace it with [Harris]’,” he explained.

“For clarity, it wasn’t even a Trump thumbnail in the main ad, but rather a roughly 60-second ad [10X] Page. And of probably 25 thumbnails of videos that were there, one had a picture of Trump in it,” Glandt explained.

Cardone added: “For the record, I am not affiliated with this [Trump] Campaign. I am a free American who cares about the development of our country. And I think Donald Trump is the best choice for what’s going on in our country right now, especially with our economy.”

In a statement to Fox News Digital, a Google spokesperson said “this issue was resolved weeks ago” and that the election ad verification process is required for any advertiser who wants to run ads that reference or contain images of political candidates.

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“Under our policies, both ads should have been rejected because the advertiser did not complete our election advertising verification process. The second ad was originally approved in error and has since been blocked. Our policies are designed to treat all advertisers equally, regardless of their status.” Occasionally our systems make mistakes and we correct them as soon as we notice them.

Google is also under federal scrutiny, as the Justice Department filed an antitrust lawsuit against the company earlier this month over its alleged monopoly power in the ad tech industry.

Additionally, just this week, Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., launched an investigation into Google and Meta for reportedly listening in on Cox users’ phone calls and tailoring ads to their conversations.

When asked if he had a message for Google, Cardone explained why they shouldn’t get involved.

“Stay out of my business and let me express my politics and my political opinions the way I want,” he said. “We try to give people great jobs and great opportunities, and our companies help Americans make money right. We do this without government funding… I want to spend money on your business. Don’t punish me. And if you want to punish me, just tell me you don’t want my money.

Recent experiences on the YouTube and Google Ads platforms have “100%” prompted Cardone and his 10X brands to consider posting exclusively on free-speech-friendly sites like Rumble and now X, led by Elon Musk.

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“We are receiving more positive support from Americans who believe in freedom and freedom of speech than ever before,” Cardone said.

“While some Americans tend to shy away from it because it hurts them for a second, it seems to us that our customer base is expanding and almost becoming zealots, if you will, to support those people who are willing to to stand up and have a voice despite the potential strain on their company.”

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