Donald Trump claims the "Google search engine was suppressing the bad news about Hillary Clinton." | Getty Trump accuses Google of 'suppressing' Clinton info

Donald Trump accused Google of “suppressing” negative information about Hillary Clinton at a rally Wednesday night, repeating an unsubstantiated charge published by a Kremlin-backed news agency that the company has denied.

“A new post-debate poll that just came out, the Google poll, has us leading Hillary Clinton by 2 points nationwide,” Trump said, apparently referencing a poll conducted for Independent Journal Review by Google Consumer Surveys that shows him ahead of the Democratic nominee, 45.7 percent to 44 percent.


But, he went on, “And that’s despite the fact that Google search engine was suppressing the bad news about Hillary Clinton.”

The report, an “exclusive” published by the Russian propaganda outlet Sputnik News on Sept. 12, claims that “biased search suggestions” by Google could shift up to 3 million votes in the upcoming election. It was cited by Breitbart News on Sept. 13.

Google, which was accused in June of manipulating its search engine to favor Clinton in a viral video, denied those allegations in a June 10 statement.

“Google autocomplete does not favor any candidate or cause. Claims to the contrary simply misunderstand how autocomplete works,” the company said.

The accusation by Trump serves as yet another example of the Republican nominee amplifying unproven conspiracy theories originating on fringe websites.

The same poll cited by Trump shows that a majority of voters believe Clinton won the debate, 52 percent to 48 percent, a finding reflected in other polls released after Monday’s event.