President Donald Trump's online meltdowns are only making the 2026 midterm elections more complicated for Republicans desperate to distance themselves from the president's bad policies.
The New Republic's Greg Sargent spoke with MS NOW's James Downie on Tuesday's episode of "The Daily Blast" about the president's knack for downplaying very real concerns Americans have.
Over the past two years, Trump has repeatedly minimized or dismissed risks if they conflict with his personal beliefs or his political agenda. Chief among them is that Trump continues to ignore Americans' complaints about the affordability crisis and inflation by calling it a "hoax." Another is the fear that Americans have over artificial intelligence and data centers.
Trump is promoting AI as something new and exciting for a future he won't likely see. Meanwhile, Americans are worried about their jobs, water and electricity use that raises their own costs, and a complete loss of human control over the systems. Over the past several weeks, AI experts have sounded the alarm that AI could end humanity either through rogue agents, intentional biological misuse, or by continuing to grow so powerful that it advances faster than can be controlled.
But as with the climate crisis, the housing crisis, Russia's attack on the 2016 election, political violence and extremism and the 2020 election, Trump says they're all a hoax, including concerns about AI. This time, however, it's an issue that Americans have already made up their minds about before he weighed in.
"There’s almost nothing that polls as poorly, in particular, as data centers — AI in general. There’s a ton of concerns among voters about what that’s going to do to their jobs, what that’s going to do to education, what that’s going to do to society writ large," said Downie. "And then, especially drilling down on it, the data centers that AI companies are depending on are extremely unpopular almost across the board."
This week, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), generally regarded as being a member of the far left, will meet with far-right commentator Steve Bannon for a discussion on the issue. It isn't merely the left and the right, Downie explained. Every part of politics is coming together against the issue. Meanwhile, Trump is calling people dumb if they don't support it.
Sargent called the anti-data center a "really serious outpouring of genuine political energy that we haven’t seen in some time.”
But there's a key reason that Trump is so supportive of AI, Downie explained.
"His family is invested in AI companies; his sons are invested in that. And as we saw with crypto, for example, Trump went from saying crypto’s a scam to 'I love crypto' as soon as he got invested in it — as soon as his family had invested. Like, that’s the first thing," said Downie.
He compared it to the trade war with Canada, where an incredibly complicated issue is being turned into this "black and white" world of "winning and losing" when it's far more nuanced.
"Trump — as soon as he hears that frame, he’s totally trapped in it," Downie said. "And he can’t break it. It doesn’t matter, even if it’s the apocalypse. Hey, we’re the first ones to cause the apocalypse. Isn’t that great?"
Sargent agreed, saying, “The leader of the Republican Party is basically saying, 'We don’t have to do anything. Don’t do anything.”
The two linked the failures on these issues to the idea that Trump behaves like he doesn't really even want to win the election.
"Trump will only allow Republicans to make a case for sticking with Republican rule on terms that flatter him. And that’s just sort of, like, the through line here. And it’s like, you know, you’re really stuck with this narcissist now. Tough shit, man. Like, you made this bed," said Sargent.
Downie said that for those who aren't part of the MAGA "cult" question what they expected would happen.
"Everything has to flatter the president. And you have a president who — I mean, as rough as the economy is, and as unhappy as Americans are with the economy," Downie said. "And yet this president is already in the 35, 36 percent approval rating. That takes real work, to get to that level in this economy. And he seems to be just pushing every button he can to make things as bad as possible for the Republicans."
Sargent agreed, noting that it seems "Trump doesn’t want Republicans to win the midterms if it’s done on terms that make him look bad."
