House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) took to Fox Business on Monday to dismiss the concerns of a majority of Americans as being the result of a foreign influence campaign, one that he argued had deceived voters into opposing a major priority of President Donald Trump.
Speaking on “Mornings With Fox Business,” Johnson was asked about the bipartisan “pushback” against AI data centers, which an overwhelming majority of Americans oppose building in their own communities, a recent study found.
“It is a Chinese psyop, I really believe that,” Johnson said. “It's not a conspiracy theory, I think they're pushing those ideas. But the community concerns are important, and I think our candidates on the campaign trail have made a very good case for this.”
The mass construction of AI data centers has been a major priority for Trump, who last year signed an executive order to accelerate permitting for data center construction. He also lashed out at Americans opposed to AI data center construction, accusing them of wanting to “end up being backwards and poor.”
And yet, despite Trump’s promotion of AI data centers, a growing number of Republican candidates have walked back their previously pro-AI data center messaging. An analysis from The Washington Post of hundreds of politicians found that Republican candidates “turned sharply negative” on AI data center messaging over the past six months.
Nevertheless, Johnson suggested that Americans opposed to AI data centers were merely victims of Chinese propaganda, calling AI data center construction a “win-win-win” that “provides a lot of jobs,” despite evidence that AI data centers are “among the least labor-intensive structures in the economy,” according to the Brookings Institution.
An August survey from Embold Research found that AI data centers were “43 points underwater with Republicans, 65 points underwater with independents, and 75 points underwater with Democrats,” with 75% of Americans against the construction of AI data centers in their own communities.
Mike Johnson dismisses voters' overwhelming hatred of AI data centers as a 'Chinese psyop' pic.twitter.com/NqorpqH7IF
— Alexander Willis (@ReporterWillis) September 28, 2026