{"slug": "maga-lawmaker-declares-himself-backwards-and-poor-as-he-bucks-trumps-push-for", "title": "MAGA lawmaker declares himself ‘backwards and poor’ as he bucks Trump’s push for more data centers", "summary": "Republican Rep. Tim Burchett of Tennessee, typically a close ally of President Donald Trump, said he is 'backwards and poor' for opposing the president's push to build more AI data centers, citing poor public education on the issue. Trump had declared on Truth Social that communities opposing data centers would end up 'backwards and poor,' while a March Gallup survey found 71% of Americans oppose having an AI data center in their area.", "body_md": "# MAGA lawmaker declares himself ‘backwards and poor’ as he bucks Trump’s push for more data centers\n\nRepublican lawmaker’s remarks come after president declared only those ‘backwards and poor’ would oppose data centers\n\n- Bookmark\n- CommentsGo to comments\n\nRepublican Rep. Tim Burchett, typically a close congressional ally of President Donald Trump, accepted the president’s title of being “backwards and poor” for being [apprehensive about tech companies building artificial intelligence data centers](/news/world/americas/kansas-data-center-petition-lawsuit-b3042167.html) across the country.\n\nOn Congress’s first day back after a five-week recess, Burchett told “[MeidasTouch](https://x.com/Acyn/status/2094570377053909228)” that he wasn’t willing to outright support Trump’s push to build more data centers to support AI development.\n\nIt came hours after [Trump took to Truth Social to declare, ](https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/117190477440173795)“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.”\n\n“I guess I’m backwards and poor,” Burchett, 62, told reporter Pablo Manríquez. “They’ve done a poor job of educating the public on those things.”\n\nTrump has encouraged communities to accept large data centers, the massive computing facilities that power AI. But lawmakers and residents have pushed back on construction, [concerned about the data centers’ use of energy and water.](/news/world/americas/data-centers-risks-usa-b2991889.html)\n\nThe president has asserted those who want to be “successful and rich, with far lower taxes and jobs all over the place” will “let Data Reign.”\n\n“If we kill the Golden Goose, you will only have yourselves to blame,” Trump wrote on Truth Social Monday.\n\nWhile the president insists data centers will fuel the economy and make the U.S. a leader in AI development globally, residents have grown [concerned about the impact data centers could have ](/news/world/europe/data-center-pact-mayors-cities-london-climate-action-week-b3001297.html)on their environment and local economy.\n\nBurchett told “MeidasTouch” that, “We need more local control. We should’ve brought everybody to the table.”\n\nBurchett’s skepticism toward building AI data centers mirrors the feelings of many Americans. Across the board, polling shows most people in the U.S. oppose having a data center in their communities.\n\nIn a [March Gallup survey,](https://news.gallup.com/poll/709772/americans-oppose-data-centers-area.aspx) 71 percent of respondents said they were somewhat or strongly opposed to an AI data center. Among the top worries were that the centers could use excess water, constrain the electrical grid, lead to higher energy bills and have a negative impact on the environment.\n\nA [Fox News poll from July](https://www.foxnews.com/politics/fox-news-poll-cool-your-servers-voters-reject-data-centers) similarly found that 70 percent of people were opposed to AI data centers, and even among MAGA Republicans, 53 percent rejected the idea of AI data centers in their community.\n\nThe [bipartisan pushback](/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-maha-ai-data-centers-rfk-jr-b3037333.html) has been so forceful that the National Republican Senatorial Committee recently sent a memo warning Senator Jon Husted of Ohio that the politics around data centers could impact the outcome of his election, [the New York Times reported. ](http://go.redirectingat.com/?id=44681X1458326&xcust=b3042866&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2026%2F08%2F31%2Fus%2Fpolitics%2Ftrump-data-centers.html&sref=/news/world/americas/us-politics/tim-burchett-data-centers-trump-b3042866.html)\n\nWhen asked about Trump’s “backwards and poor” remark,[ Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez responded](https://x.com/Acyn/status/2094562489283551622): “I mean, how about we put one in Mar-a-Lago? I love that. Let’s put a data center up in Mar-a-Lago, and we’ll see how backwards and poor he is in response to that.”\n\n## Join our commenting forum\n\nJoin thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies\n\n[Comments](#comments-area)", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/maga-lawmaker-declares-himself-backwards-and-poor-as-he-bucks-trumps-push-for", "canonical_source": "https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/tim-burchett-data-centers-trump-b3042866.html", "published_at": "2026-09-01 16:53:59+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-09-01 17:23:42.185421+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["ai-policy", "ai-infrastructure"], "entities": ["Tim Burchett", "Donald Trump", "Gallup", "Fox News", "Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez", "National Republican Senatorial Committee", "Jon Husted", "MeidasTouch"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/maga-lawmaker-declares-himself-backwards-and-poor-as-he-bucks-trumps-push-for", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/maga-lawmaker-declares-himself-backwards-and-poor-as-he-bucks-trumps-push-for.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/maga-lawmaker-declares-himself-backwards-and-poor-as-he-bucks-trumps-push-for.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/maga-lawmaker-declares-himself-backwards-and-poor-as-he-bucks-trumps-push-for.jsonld"}}