Data centers have become one of the defining issues of the 2026 midterm elections, with rising energy prices, environmental concerns, and fears about artificial intelligence driving voter anger. But according to a new analysis published by The Daily Wire, that backlash may have been accelerated by an unlikely figure: President Donald Trump.
Writing for The Daily Wire, Ryan James Girdusky argues that Trump’s vocal support for data centers helped politicize an issue that, just a year earlier, most voters had not thought much about. The piece, adapted from his National Populist Newsletter, suggests that Trump’s endorsement may have pushed ambivalent Democrats and Independents who dislike him firmly into the opposition camp.
From Ambivalence to Outrage
In December 2025, a Navigator poll found that a large share of voters had no strong feelings about data centers. A third of Democrats and 40 percent of Independents said they were unsure how they felt. Republicans were more supportive, but even among them, many had no opinion either way. A Politico poll the following month found similar results, with a third of Harris voters and nearly as many Trump voters undecided on the issue.
That began to change as opposition to data centers started gaining traction. Trump responded by demanding that data centers pay for their own electricity and by striking agreements with major tech companies on energy, water, and community principles. Girdusky characterizes this as a public relations effort — “Trump and the tech community walking hand-in-hand together” — but as the months went on, the president became more vocal in his support, and his administration gave the projects its full backing.
By July, when Politico polled the subject again, opposition had hardened — yet large segments of the population still had no opinion. According to Girdusky, Trump’s support may have taken people who were ambivalent but disliked the president and moved them against data centers. He draws a parallel to the COVID-19 era, when Trump’s critics opposed his statements but supported Dr. Anthony Fauci’s, even when the two agreed. The dynamic, as he puts it: “Orange man bad, Orange man like data center, therefore data center bad.”
A Familiar Pattern
The analysis points to a longer trend of Democrats instinctively opposing positions associated with Trump. In 2013, before Trump entered politics, 46 percent of Democrats supported a $46 billion border fence proposed during the Obama administration. When Trump backed essentially the same proposal but called it a wall, Democratic support fell to 11 percent.
By September 2026, opposition to data centers was overwhelming, with one notable exception: Republican support remained nearly evenly divided, despite Trump’s heavy lobbying. That split mirrors the president’s overall approval rating. Some pro-tech Democrats and Independents continued to back the projects, but most Republicans were not convinced by Trump’s arguments.
Girdusky notes that the numbers look stark, but compared to Politico’s July polling, Democratic opposition has moved only slightly — down four points — and Republican support is not much different from January. The real shift is that almost everyone now has an opinion about data centers, and the public is largely against them.
“Trump’s support for them could have had the opposite effect,” Girdusky writes. “It may have reversed some soft opposition among Republicans but pushed Democrats and Independents who don’t like him off the sidelines and firmly in the camp against them.”
The Larger Stakes
The piece frames data centers as the latest front in a broader political realignment, where any issue Trump touches becomes polarized. With the midterms approaching, the question of whether the president’s advocacy helped or hurt the industry remains open — but the analysis suggests that in trying to boost data centers, Trump may have done the opposite.
Source: www.dailywire.com — https://www.dailywire.com/news/the-trump-effect-how-polarization-built-the-great-data-center-backlash