A lifelong conservative Republican drew accusations of privilege after telling 60 Minutes that a data center is the first issue in his adult life to directly affect him.
Dave Lowe lives beside a proposed 800-acre data center campus in Red Oak, Texas. He spoke to correspondent Norah O’Donnell for a 60 Minutes report that aired Sunday.
The network shared his remark in a post on X on Sunday evening, where it has drawn more than 4 million views.
“Are you thinking about voting differently?” O’Donnell asked him during the segment.
“This is the first time in my adult life where there’s been an issue that’s come up that I feel like is going to directly impact me,” Lowe replied.
“This says so much more than he can possibly know,” Lincoln Project co-founder Reed Galen wrote on X, sharing the network’s post.
“holy s— can you imagine,” wrote Ari Drennen, the LGBTQ program director at Media Matters for America.
“I mean, wow. The first time?!” wrote civil rights activist DeRay Mckesson.
“This is privilege, in a white cowboy hat shaped nut cracker,” wrote actress Rachel True.
“I mean, yeah let’s get rid of the data centers… but the, ‘this is the first time…an issue…is going to directly impact me’ — what an unimaginable privilege,” wrote progressive podcast host Benjamin Dixon.
“And so this time around, I’ve made the decision that I’m not going to vote red or blue; I’m going to vote for the candidate that is willing to speak up, and put up, and do something to help us with this issue,” Lowe told the broadcast.
Lowe meets twice a month with several dozen Red Oak residents from across the political spectrum who oppose the projects, according to the report.
Compass Datacenters wants to build 10 two-story data centers on agricultural land the size of Central Park, 60 Minutes reported. The buildings would be one of seven campuses set to cover more than a quarter of the town.
More than 60% of Republicans, independents and Democrats say they do not want a data center where they live, according to Gallup polling cited in the segment.
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