President Donald Trump's top economic adviser was slammed online after claiming in a Fox News interview Friday that towns with data centers thrive.
Kevin Hassett, Director of the National Economic Council, told the conservative outlet that data centers benefit municipalities, despite reports showing they can harm communities.
"Data centers are very good for towns, because they create so many jobs and bring people in with high incomes that can buy houses and stuff like that," Hassett said. "So if you take a sleepy town that hasn't really seen much in the last 30 years and put a data center there, then there are gonna be a whole bunch of happy residents in that town."
Critics on social media argued against Hassett's comments.
"The people who disrupted the president’s event in Michigan the other day seemed pretty unhappy about them," New York Times White House correspondent Katie Rogers wrote on X.
"Hassett’s hometown is Greenfield, Mass. He should ask the people of @GreenfieldMA if they want a data center," journalist Nancy Levine Stearns wrote on X.
"Nothing revitalizes a sleepy town like 900 acres of humming boxes and three employees named Kyle," wrote SundaeDivine, an X political commentary account with more than 129,000 followers.
"Maybe Hassett can sell his house and move to a small town next to one to set a proper example for the peasants," MeidasTouch editor-in-chief Ron Filipkowski wrote on X.
The people who disrupted the president’s event in Michigan the other day seemed pretty unhappy about them https://t.co/WX650EQk59
— Katie Rogers (@katierogers) July 31, 2026