- Fox News pro-data center perspectives increased fivefold following a warning from the National Republican Senatorial Committee
- Republicans are losing the midterm electoral race in Ohio, and data centers are central to the Democrat campaign
- Tech companies were told to "fix how Ohioans see" data centers
New research has found that Fox News coverage on pro-data center topics has risen by 420% since August 18 2026 - the day the National Republican Senatorial Committee warned tech companies that Republican candidates were losing to Democrats in key battleground states.
These are the findings of Media Matters, a nonprofit journalism watchdog which analyzed the two weeks preceding the GOP warning and compared it to the following period. Pro-data center perspectives from guests and Fox News hosts quintupled.
AI, and the data centers that power the technology, have become a hot button issue in the run up to the November US midterm elections. Numerous polls have suggested that the majority of Americans oppose the buildout of AI data centers and infrastructure.
AI opposition is a Chinese psyop
The private memo from the GOP, as reported by Axios, explained that tech companies need to change public perspectives on AI data centers, lest Republicans candidates lose to a “Democrat candidate who wants to stop data center construction altogether, which will cause America to lose the AI race to China”.
In Ohio, the campaign of Democratic nominee Sherrod Brown is being driven by anti-data center sentiment, which the GOP fears could cost Republican incumbent Jon Husted his seat. The GOP called Brown’s strategy “significantly more effective than traditional messaging tracts.”
To that end, the GOP urged tech companies to shift perspectives on to “who benefits, who pays, and why a community should want one.”
Comparing the number of claims made before and after the GOP memo, the researchers found that claims in favor of data centers jumped from 39 in a two week period to 203 in the following two weeks.
The balance of claims in favor and against data centers was also skewed, with those favorable to data centers outnumbering those against by almost double.
Around 56% of the claims made argued that AI data centers were essential to the US’ progress and prosperity, with 43% of claims arguing that the widespread opposition to AI data centers is being fueled by bad actors such as “far-left activists” and the Chinese government.
Fox News has frequently painted data centers as a boon to regions with large concentrations, with Fox News’ Will Cain pulling upon examples of Virginia’s Loudoun County as “data center alley, the richest county in America.”
Research has found that opposition to data centers is not a politically partisan issue, with the majority of opposition coming from working class communities irrespective of Democrat or Republican leaning.
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