President Donald Trump is doing plenty of things that must be making his party nervous ahead of the midterm elections. But high on that list is his rah-rah advocacy for much-derided AI data centers.
And his and Vice President JD Vance’s very different comments about the subject Monday underscored the GOP’s messaging problems.
While traveling to Michigan, where data centers are expected to figure significantly in races for Senate and other offices, Vance gave a very nuanced answer on the issue.
“I think probably 99% of the backlash to data centers has come in areas where building a data center means higher utilities and higher electricity for the people on the ground,” Vance said.
He added that data centers “should be putting power back into the grid, not taking it out. And if that is happening, I don’t think the data centers are that controversial. It’s when the utility bills get so much higher; that’s when it’s a real problem.”
