Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick faced instant ridicule after claiming data centers do not use water — only for an old clip to surface showing him saying the opposite.
“I mean, data centers don’t use water,” Lutnick said Wednesday on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.” “This is propaganda by our adversaries to try to slow us down.”
But a clip from Lutnick’s appearance with Fox News' Sean Hannity last year also began circulating.
“These AI things, they suck water, and they need water, right?” Lutnick said at the time.
Rep. Seth Magaziner (D-RI) offered a blunt response to the apparent reversal.
“Our government is being run by morons,” he wrote on X. “You can quote me on that.”
Former Biden aide Jesse Lee joked, “Last year Lutnick was a Chinese agent.”
“No energy. They run on pixie dust and unicorn poop,” added professor and climate scientist Michael E. Mann in an X post mocking the claim.
Justin Brannan, the former chair of the New York City Council’s Finance Committee, accused Lutnick of simply denying the facts.
“Data centers use enormous amounts of water for cooling,” Brannan wrote. “You can argue policy. You can’t make up facts.”
The Department of Energy says many data centers use water to remove heat from their servers. Facilities with cooling towers can require larger amounts because water is lost through evaporation, according to the department.
The moment Wednesday prompted Claude Taylor, a former Clinton White House official, to ask his social media followers: “Is this parody?”
Our government is being run by morons. You can quote me on that. https://t.co/6Ysk3Vi67X
— Seth Magaziner (@SethMagaziner) September 2, 2026