GOP Rep Breaks With Trump on Data Centers: ‘I Guess I’m Backwards and Poor’

Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., broke with President Donald Trump over the construction of data centers Monday, declaring himself “backwards and poor” while calling for local communities to have greater control over the controversial projects.

Burchett’s response came after Trump strongly defended data centers in a Monday morning post on Truth Social, arguing that communities risk falling behind financially if they reject the facilities.

“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,” Trump wrote.
The president argued that data centers could bring economic benefits, including lower taxes and additional employment opportunities.

“If they want to be successful and rich, with far lower taxes and jobs all over the place, let Data Reign,” Trump added.

MeidasTouch reporter Pablo Manríquez asked Burchett to respond to Trump’s description of communities that oppose the construction of data centers.
“I guess I’m backwards and poor,” Burchett replied.

The Tennessee Republican said supporters of the facilities had failed to properly explain them to the public. He characterized their approach as simply telling residents that the projects were beneficial and expecting communities to accept that conclusion.

“They’ve done a poor job of educating the public on those things,” Burchett said. “They’re just: ‘We’re for ’em, and you should be for ’em’ kind of thing.”
Burchett also argued that local officials and residents should have a larger role in decisions involving proposed data center developments.

“We need more local control,” he said. “We should have brought everybody to the table.”

Manríquez questioned numerous lawmakers on Capitol Hill about the contentious issue Monday. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., responded to Trump’s comments with a challenge involving the president’s Mar-a-Lago property.

“How about we put one in Mar-a-Lago?” Ocasio-Cortez said. “We’ll see how backwards and poor he is in response to that.”

Burchett’s concerns come as polling indicates that opposition to nearby data centers crosses party and geographic lines.

A Fox News survey released last month found that 70% of voters opposed the construction of an artificial intelligence data center in their local area.

The opposition included 76% of Democrats and 60% of Republicans, according to the poll.

CNN chief data analyst Harry Enten described data centers as “electoral poison” earlier this month while discussing the Fox News survey. Enten noted that resistance to the projects was not limited to voters from one type of community.

The survey found that 75% of rural voters did not want a data center built near them. Opposition among urban voters stood at 63%.

Even MAGA-identified Republicans, who were the group most supportive of data centers in the Fox poll, did not give the projects majority support. Just 46% said they favored having one constructed nearby.

Trump’s call to “let Data Reign” therefore faces resistance from voters across the political spectrum, as well as from at least one Republican lawmaker.
Burchett’s response emphasized that communities should receive more information and have a direct voice before data center projects move forward.