Trump Is Making It Impossible<\/p>\n
President Trump has made it impossible for Republicans to seize on a relatively easy, bipartisan issue that could help them win over voters in the midterms if they spoke about it in the right way. As he espouses bombastic rhetoric about how only \u201cpoor and backwards\u201d people oppose data center construction, Republicans have struggled with how exactly to cross him on the matter.<\/p>\n
American opposition to data center construction in their communities is one of the only issues that voters across the political spectrum can agree on at the moment. TPM has been tracking the bipartisan outrage<\/a> aimed at the tech industry\u2019s attempts to expand this construction boom in rural and urban communities around the nation. A May Gallup poll found that more than 70% of Americans are anti-data center, primarily because of their fears about tech companies coming in to their towns and building facilities that drain local water and energy resources, all for the purpose of expanding the capabilities of artificial intelligence that could eventually be used to strip human Americans of their jobs.<\/p>\n The backlash is simple, relatable and widespread enough that some Republicans \u2014 including anti-regulation Republicans who have embraced accelerated AI development \u2014 are attempting to message around data center differently heading into the midterms given how universal fears are among voters. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, for example, has, at least temporarily, blocked new data center projects from connecting to the state\u2019s power grid. After extending an open invitation to tech companies to come and build in Texas, Abbott softened his stance amid mounting voter backlash about rising energy costs tied to the projects.<\/p>\n Trump has made any attempt at nuance nearly impossible for members of his party facing reelection. He\u2019s paid back the tech company executives who donated to his inauguration and funded his White House ballroom by using his second term to push for unregulated AI expansion and is even pushing new rules <\/a>that make it more difficult for local governments to get public input on data center construction.<\/p>\n Earlier this week, the president planted himself firmly in alignment with Big Tech interests by suggesting only communities that want to be \u201cpoor and backwards\u201d <\/a>should be opposed to the construction of the facilities and the natural gas plants that run them.<\/p>\n Likely recognizing the vulnerable opening Trump created with his hard line on the matter, Vice President JD Vance tried to dial that back a bit, suggesting that tech companies should \u201cbe putting power back into the grid\u201d in the communities where they\u2019re building. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) tried to do something similar on Monday.<\/p>\n \u201cThese entities need to be self-sufficient,\u201d Thune told a local South Dakota TV station<\/a>. \u201cThey ought to be able to take care of their own utilities, their own power, and that ought to be a given any place they go in the country. But they shouldn\u2019t be going places where there isn\u2019t support for them at the local level.\u201d<\/p>\n The Trump administration has, reportedly<\/a>, tried to press data center developers to sign a pledge that they will try to keep electricity costs in check in the communities where they\u2019re doing construction. But you wouldn\u2019t know it from Trump\u2019s rhetoric. It appears that both Thune and Vance are trying to give vulnerable Republicans a reasonable message to voters on an issue that could be an easy win \u2014 if Trump cared about Republicans winning the midterms more than maintaining the Big Tech oligarchy he\u2019s enabled.<\/p>\n No One Wants to Go to Trump\u2019s Fake Dallas Convention<\/p>\n The Republican Party is hosting a bizarre midterms convention in Dallas later this month in an event that will feature President Trump as the headlining speaker. He\u2019s reportedly planning to use the moment to tout his perception of his record so far this term, in hopes that it will somehow bolster Republicans\u2019 prospects in November (unclear how his cratering approval rating factors into all of this).<\/p>\n But the GOP convention in Dallas is not exactly something that Republicans are rushing to attend \u2014 and why would they? Trump has actively made it harder for Republicans to have anything concrete to campaign on this cycle, both in the data center realm, as I unpacked above, and also on other issues, like his obsession with the SAVE Act (and torpedoing easy wins while pressuring Congress to pass it).<\/p>\n Politico<\/a> surveyed more than 70 Republican candidates and members of Congress to see if any were planning to attend. Most are not: <\/p>\n The 45 Republicans cited a variety of reasons for skipping the first midterm convention put on by a major party in more than four decades. Some cited prior obligations such as fundraisers or events in their districts that were planned before the convention was\u00a0scheduled in June<\/a>. Others had personal conflicts, like weddings and family events, and still others raised qualms about the five-figure-minimum fees that party officials want attending lawmakers to pony up.<\/p>\n And some Republicans in tough races are steering clear of the gathering \u2014 which has come to be called \u201cTrump-a-palooza\u201d in some GOP circles \u2014 as they face growing\u00a0hesitation about associating themselves<\/a>\u00a0with the polarizing president so close to the election.<\/p>\n But Maybe They\u2019ll Come to This<\/p>\n MS NOW reports:<\/a><\/p>\n President Donald Trump is hosting vulnerable Republican incumbents\u00a0facing tough re-election contests\u00a0for dinner in the White House Rose Garden on Wednesday, according to a White House official with knowledge of the invitations.<\/p>\n The invitees include GOP lawmakers who are locked in competitive races this November, according to the official, who declined to provide a full list of the Republican attendees.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s What Else You Should Read From TPM Today<\/p>\n Josh Kovensky has new details on the Trump administration\u2019s use of a tool that Congress created in 2001, in the early days of the War on Terror, to investigate groups that oppose the Trump administration\u2019s agenda: DHS Brings PATRIOT Act Tool to Bear in NSPM-7 Investigation<\/a><\/p>\n Emine Y\u00fccel has a new piece out today that outlines how Democrats have evolved on the issue of expanding the Supreme Court: What Democrats Have, and Haven\u2019t, Said About Supreme Court Reform<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cThe destruction of a professional military has to rank among the most egregious and long-lasting of Trump II initiatives targeting government itself, along with his attacks on the merit-based civil service system, his abusive misuse of the Justice Department, his elimination of USAID, and his running roughshod over Congress\u2019 power of the purse,\u201d David Kurtz writes in today\u2019s edition of Morning Memo: The Pentagon Purges Will Continue Until Morale Improves<\/a><\/p>\n Yesterday\u2019s Top Story<\/p>\n AUDIO: Colorado GOP Gov. Nominee Tells Wild Exorcism Story About Fighting \u2018Satan In Person\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n What I\u2019m Reading<\/p>\n ICE Plans to Pay $5 Million to Create National Voting Database<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n Tillis renews calls for Hegseth\u2019s ouster<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n