House Speaker Mike Johnson said Monday that growing public opposition to AI data centers is being driven by China, dismissing widespread local concerns as foreign manipulation rather than genuine grassroots sentiment.
Johnson made the claim during an appearance on Fox Business after host Cheryl Casone suggested China has been stoking opposition to the facilities.
“This is what Democrats do. Every election cycle they find something to glom onto and say that this is doom and gloom and everyone will die if we don’t win,” Johnson said. “Don’t buy it. This is a Chinese psyop. I really believe that. That’s not a conspiracy theory.”
The evidence, however, points to opposition that is largely homegrown. A recent YouGov poll found that nearly two-thirds of Americans oppose building data centers in their own communities. Data Center Watch reported that roughly 120 data center projects have been blocked or delayed across the country over the past six months.
A Gallup poll conducted in May found that 71 percent of Americans were somewhat or strongly opposed to having a data center built near them — nearly 20 percentage points higher than opposition to a nearby nuclear power plant.
Residents near existing or proposed facilities have cited concerns ranging from job losses and climate impact to noise pollution and the visual footprint of the massive structures. Some cities and counties have responded by enacting temporary or permanent moratoriums on new construction.
Jessica Brandt, a former official with the Office of the Director of National Intelligence under the Biden administration, told the New York Times in July that while foreign adversaries do have an interest in exploiting the debate, they are not the source of it.
“Foreign actors aren’t manufacturing American debates over the future of A.I., they are exploiting them,” Brandt said, adding that the goal was to “deepen our divisions in order to dent our appeal and weaken us from within.”
Both Russia and China have documented interests in amplifying American discord over data center construction, but the scale of domestic polling data and the sheer number of contested local projects suggest the opposition Johnson dismissed is rooted in concerns raised by Americans themselves, not manufactured from abroad.
