Trump attacks data center opponents

News · Heat 1.9 / 10 · 7 shows · 1h 33m airtime

On August 31, Trump attacked communities that reject data centers, saying the only reason to oppose them is wanting to be 'backwards and poor.' The discussion has since moved to money and midterm politics: a Wall Street Journal cover article details Republican states giving data centers tax breaks and sweetheart deals, an NBC News poll found 64% of registered voters would be less likely to support a candidate who wanted a data center near them, and the NRSC warned data centers are the anchor hanging around Husted's neck. The House passed Husted's energy-cost bill 417 to three, while Senate Democrats blocked Thune's unanimous-consent push. Trump now says the companies will make massive contributions to communities, and a survey found the…

How 7 podcasts covered it

1. Pod Save America, 2026-09-01 (1:02:14 to 1:07:05)
   Adds the backlash to Trump's data center post
   Adds the reaction to Trump's Truth Social post: the replies flooded with supporters saying they regret backing him, and J.D. Vance trying to clean up the comments with caveats about power plants and electricity rates.
   New angle: Trump's Truth Social post drew replies from users saying they regret supporting him; J.D. Vance added caveats about power plants and electricity rates.
2. Pod Save America, 2026-09-01 (1:07:05 to 1:10:29)
   Adds Loudoun County's data center tax deal
   Adds the local-government counterexample to the data center backlash: Loudoun County charges data centers a tax that funds schools and lowers property taxes, and the hosts argue stopping construction would barely dent AI deployment.
3. Pod Save America, 2026-09-01 (1:26:16 to 1:27:21)
   Counters Trump with Lombardo's op-ed
   Ford answers Trump's 'backwards and poor' line by pointing at Lombardo, who wrote an op-ed saying Nevada must embrace data centers and called the issue a gold rush for the state.
4. Today, Explained, 2026-09-02 (0:00 to 1:00)
   Plays Trump's attacks on data center opponents
   Opens with clips of Trump's Truth Social and public remarks attacking communities that reject data centers, framing data centers as politically untenable.
5. Today, Explained, 2026-09-02 (14:11 to 25:33)
   Interviews Merrill on data center backlash
   Interviews Jeremy Merrill about his Washington Post analysis of thousands of social media posts and newsletters, naming officials in both parties who have turned against data centers - Husted, Shapiro, Pritzker, Khanna, Burleson - and the NRSC warning that the issue is 'the anchor hanging around Husted's neck.'
   New angle: The NRSC warned data centers are the anchor hanging around Husted's neck; Burleson wrote in June that China benefits when Americans turn against them.
6. Pod Save America, 2026-09-04 (39:10 to 49:44)
   Ties data center fight to the Big Beautiful Bill
   Ties the data center fight to the Big Beautiful Bill: Republicans voted to block state and local regulation and gave tax breaks to AI companies, and nearly one in five data centers under construction got them. Adds private polling showing data centers at about 20% approval.
7. Morning Wire, 2026-09-06 (29:53 to 41:32)
   Adds the opportunity zone attack line
   Picks up the data center fight as a midterm issue and adds the Democratic line of attack tying data centers to opportunity zones, plus Abbott's call for a slowdown and a Frederick, Maryland developer's community concessions.
   New angle: Democrats are attacking Republicans over data centers and opportunity zones; a Frederick, Maryland developer offered parks and school funding.
8. Morning Wire, 2026-09-09 (22:57 to 24:09)
   Argues Republicans have a data center messaging problem
   Olohan says Republicans have a data center messaging problem and that telling voters to trust experts echoes COVID; Vance's recent AI-and-jobs remarks are cited as the party's attempt at a frame. Domenech cautions the Anthropic story rests on two former employees.
9. Morning Wire, 2026-09-09 (27:14 to 30:37)
   Cites a Journal piece on data center tax breaks
   Panel segment on AI lobbying and data-center politics. Domenech cites a Wall Street Journal cover piece on Republican states handing data centers tax breaks and sweetheart deals, and the panel notes Frederick, Maryland's ten-year commitment to fund whatever the town wants.
   New angle: A Wall Street Journal cover article details Republican states giving data centers tax breaks and sweetheart deals.
10. The Daily, 2026-09-16 (31:22 to 32:04)
    Restates the data center whiplash in both parties
    Haberman's brief turn on data centers: both parties are flipping positions and running on voter anger, with Shapiro and the Texas governor as the examples. It restates the whiplash already on the record.
11. The NPR Politics Podcast, 2026-09-25 (9:54 to 17:25)
    Cites polls on data center backlash
    Adds two fresh polls to the data center backlash file: an NBC News poll finding 64 percent of registered voters would be less likely to back a candidate who wanted a data center near them, and a Politico poll finding two-thirds see at least a moderate chance AI destroys humanity. Also notes Democratic strategists telling battleground candidates to avoid AI…
    New angle: An NBC News poll found 64% of registered voters would be less likely to support a candidate who wanted a data center near them.
12. Pod Save America, 2026-09-29 (9:56 to 16:25)
    Walks through the data center bill votes
    Picks up the data center fight in Congress: plays Speaker Mike Johnson calling opposition a Chinese psyop, then walks through Husted's bill directing states to make data centers pay their own energy costs - House passage 417 to three, Thune blocked by Senate Democrats, Heinrich's tougher competing bill blocked by Moreno.
    New angle: The House passed Husted's data center energy-cost bill 417 to three; Senate Democrats blocked Thune's unanimous-consent push.
13. Breaking Points with Krystal and Saagar, 2026-09-30 (0:24 to 1:09)
    Airs Trump's answer on data center backlash
    Airs Trump's answer to whether his data center support will hurt Republicans in the midterms: he says he has to do what is right and that the companies will make massive contributions and form partnerships with communities. A new on-the-record response from Trump on the electoral cost, not a retelling of the August post.
    New angle: Trump says the companies will make massive contributions to communities and form partnerships with them.
14. The Fox News Rundown, 2026-10-02 (2:03 to 13:42)
    Calls the backlash a Chinese psyop
    McCormick, asked directly whether the data center backlash is a Chinese psyop, says yes and puts a number on it: data centers and AI are 80 percent popular in China and 20 percent popular in America. He adds that hyperscalers botched the early rollout and floats FINRA-style industry regulation, liability clarity and child protections.
    New angle: McCormick says data centers and AI are 80 percent popular in China and 20 percent popular in America.
15. Pod Save America, 2026-10-02 (27:34 to 42:29)
    Reads the TIME interview praising data centers
    Reads the new TIME interview and finds Trump calling data centers beautiful buildings that add to a community and saying he'd like them in his county, while Republicans in Congress just failed to pass their electricity-cost bill. Adds an Erin Brockovich offline and Abdul El-Sayed's 30-second data center noise ad.
16. Today, Explained, 2026-10-17 (28:41 to 30:02)
    Recaps the data center political scramble
    Goldmacher frames data centers as scrambling both coalitions: Abbott and Shapiro have flipped against them, both parties run anti-data-center ads in some of the same races, and Trump is out front for them while his party is not. A recap of the political read, no new development.
17. Breaking Points with Krystal and Saagar, 2026-10-26 (12:55 to 14:32)
    Pairs Trump's data center clip with a survey
    Plays a new Trump clip telling voters to be cool on data centers because you can make a fortune, and pairs it with a survey finding that the closer voters live to a data center, the more likely they are to vote Democratic, reading it as a rural turnout problem.
    New angle: A survey found the closer voters live to a data center, the more likely they are to vote Democratic in the midterms.