MAGA donors on pins and needles over brewing voter revolt

When Donald Trump broadened his coalition during the 2024 presidential race, tech CEOs like Elon Musk and PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel were among his ardent supporters. But with the 2026 midterms a little over two months away, both GOP and Democratic voters are rebelling against something Trump passionately supports: data centers. And according to Salon's Amanda Marcotte, this revolt has major "tech elites" on pins and needles.

Marcotte, in Salon, reports that "tech elites" are spending a fortune to get Republicans to join Trump in supporting data centers. But that "lavish spending," according to Marcotte, isn't necessarily changing voters' minds — even those who vote Republican.

"Republicans have always been an anti-regulation party devoted to serving the rich at the expense of everyone else, making them a natural fit for Silicon Valley donors," Marcotte explains. "The lavish spending is certainly paying off in the GOP ranks. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Tex., recently denounced the anti-data center movement as driven by 'hardcore left-wing values.' On Monday, Vice President JD Vance dismissed the opposition to data centers as an easily resolved dispute over power usage, and insisted 'they're an important part of the AI economy.' That's why people hate them, JD!"

Marcotte continues, "Trump, with his usual contempt for voters, sneered that opponents of data centers will be 'backwards and poor,' saying that those who want to be 'successful and rich' will 'let Data Reign.'"

Moreover, according to Marcotte, many Republicans who are fighting for survival in the midterms aren't joining Trump, Vance and Cruz in their support of data centers — and they are "scrambling to get on the right side of this issue" by "speaking negatively about data centers." Tech companies, according to Marcotte, are responding to those negative comments by ramping up their spending and lobbying.

"The tech elite are likely hoping that they can convince Republican politicians to betray their own voters and focus their favors on the donor class once in office," Marcotte writes. "But the size of the spending betrays how worried they are about people power. They clearly think it will take a lot of money to drown out the increasingly loud voices of everyday voters who see clearly that the tech industry is predatory, and are demanding that government do something about it. This midterm will be a test of who can be louder: people or money. So far, the people have the momentum."