Donald Trump wanted to shame communities that aren’t eager to welcome massive AI data centers.
Instead, one of his own Republican allies basically looked at the president and said: Fine. I guess I’m “backwards and poor.”
Rep. Tim Burchett, a longtime Trump ally, pushed back against the president’s aggressive campaign to get communities across the country to embrace the enormous facilities that power artificial intelligence.
And he did it using Trump’s own words.
Trump took to Truth Social Monday to attack communities that oppose data centers, declaring that “the only reason that communities throughout the U.S.A. should not want Data Centers is if they want to end up being backwards and poor.”
Burchett wasn’t impressed.
“I guess I’m backwards and poor,” the Tennessee Republican, 62, told MeidasTouch reporter Pablo Manríquez.
Then he took aim at the administration’s handling of the issue.
“They’ve done a poor job of educating the public on those things,” Burchett said.
That’s a pretty remarkable response from a Republican who has generally been a reliable Trump ally.
And Burchett isn’t alone.
Trump has been urging cities and states to welcome the giant computing facilities as the country races to expand its artificial-intelligence infrastructure.
His argument is straightforward: Data centers mean investment, jobs, economic growth and American dominance in AI.
But there’s a catch.
These facilities can consume enormous amounts of electricity and water, raising concerns about pressure on local power grids, utility costs and the environment.
Residents in communities targeted for development aren’t necessarily buying Trump’s pitch.
Neither are lawmakers.
Burchett told MeidasTouch that communities need more say over where the facilities are built.
“We need more local control. We should’ve brought everybody to the table,” he said.
Trump, meanwhile, has warned that communities rejecting data centers could be sabotaging their own economic future.
“If we kill the Golden Goose, you will only have yourselves to blame,” Trump wrote Monday.
He also urged Americans to “let Data Reign” if they want to be “successful and rich,” with lower taxes and jobs.
The message from Trump is essentially: embrace the data centers or risk being left behind.
A growing number of Americans appear to have another idea.
The political problem for Trump is that opposition to data centers isn’t confined to Democrats.
It’s widespread.
A March Gallup survey found that 71 percent of Americans were somewhat or strongly opposed to having an AI data center in their community.
The concerns weren’t exactly mysterious.
Respondents cited potential water consumption, strain on the electrical grid, higher energy bills and environmental impacts.
A Fox News poll conducted in July found almost exactly the same level of opposition: 70 percent.
And here’s the part that could really complicate things for Republicans:
Even among MAGA Republicans, 53 percent opposed having an AI data center in their community.
So Trump’s “backwards and poor” argument isn’t landing particularly well with the people he’s supposedly trying to convince.
In fact, he’s essentially telling a majority of Americans — including a majority of MAGA Republicans — that they’re wrong for being worried about something happening in their own communities.
The backlash has gotten serious enough that Republicans are starting to worry.
The New York Times reported that the National Republican Senatorial Committee recently warned Ohio Sen. Jon Husted that the politics surrounding data centers could affect his reelection campaign.
That’s significant.
Republicans aren’t just debating the technology. They’re worrying about what happens when voters start getting electricity bills, dealing with water demands and watching massive industrial facilities rise near their homes.
And that makes Trump’s “backwards and poor” insult particularly risky.
Instead of persuading skeptical voters, it gives opponents an easy way to frame the debate: Trump wants the data centers. Your community gets to deal with the consequences.
Democrats are piling on
Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez had her own response to Trump’s remark. Her suggestion? Put one at Mar-a-Lago.
“I mean, how about we put one in Mar-a-Lago?” Ocasio-Cortez said. “I love that. Let’s put a data center up in Mar-a-Lago, and we’ll see how backwards and poor he is in response to that.”
It’s a line designed to needle Trump — but it also gets at the heart of the political fight.
Americans may support AI development in the abstract.
That doesn’t necessarily mean they want a giant power-hungry facility built next door.
And that’s the disconnect Trump and the tech industry are running into.
Trump sees data centers as a “Golden Goose.”
Many communities see enormous facilities that could consume water, strain power systems and potentially raise their bills.
And now one of Trump’s own congressional allies is effectively telling him that calling concerned Americans “backwards and poor” isn’t going to solve the problem.
Burchett’s response was short.
But it exposed the political weakness in Trump’s argument: You can call voters backwards and poor. You still have to convince them to live next to the data center.
