‘I Guess I’m Backwards and Poor’: House Republican Responds to Trump’s Description of People Who Oppose Data Centers
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Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN) declared himself “backwards and poor” on Monday as he broke with President Donald Trump over the construction of data centers.
The president again went to bat for the controversial topic on Monday morning, posting on Truth Social, “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. If they want to be successful and rich, with far lower taxes and jobs all over the place, let Data Reign.”
When asked by MeidasTouch’s Pablo Manríquez for his thoughts on Trump’s comments, Burchett responded, “I guess I’m backwards and poor… They’ve done a poor job of educating the public on those things. They’re just: ‘We’re for ’em, and you should be for ’em’ kind of thing… We need more local control. We should have brought everybody to the table.”
While Manríquez questioned many lawmakers on Capitol Hill over the touchy topic on Monday, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) had a response that rivaled Burchett’s in wit.
“How about we put one in Mar-a-Lago?” she told the outlet. “We’ll see how backwards and poor he is in response to that.”
Burchett’s concerns come as polling shows opposition to data centers cutting across party lines. A Fox News survey from last month found 70% of voters opposed building an AI data center in their area, including 76% of Democrats and 60% of Republicans.
Not to mention, CNN chief data analyst Harry Enten called data centers “electoral poison” earlier this month in reference to the survey, pointing out that opposition also spans geographical divides, as 75% of rural voters and 63% of urban voters said they do not want one built near them. Even among MAGA-identified Republicans — the group most supportive of data centers in the Fox poll — just 46% favored their construction nearby.
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The post ‘I Guess I’m Backwards and Poor’: House Republican Responds to Trump’s Description of People Who Oppose Data Centers first appeared on Mediaite.