Donald Trump’s AI push fuels revolt in Maga heartlands
Republicans fear backlash against White House agenda could undermine support in this year’s midterm elections
On a cold Tuesday evening last week, about 200 Missourians crammed into a Methodist church to share a message: the AI revolution embraced by Donald Trump’s White House did not have their unqualified support.
“I voted for this administration and didn’t really think about [AI] until it started to affect me,” said Lisa Garrett, who lives beside the site of a rapidly greenlit $6.6bn, 400-acre data centre development in the satellite city of Independence, just east of Kansas City.
A worker for a local ministry, Garrett’s unease extends beyond the project’s demand on local water and electricity supplies to the broader social impact of the industry it is being built to support.
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A data center in New Brunswick was canceled tonight when hundreds of residents showed up. When fight big tech and private equity we win. pic.twitter.com/doZ63Pdwue
— Ben Dziobek (@BenDziobek) February 19, 2026