FIGHT FOR CONGRESS: Rep Richard Hudson on the battle for the House

He was the chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee and North Carolina Congressman Richard Hudson. Congressman, good to have you here. We just heard some sound bites of optimism from some of your colleagues. The polling, though, is not pointing in the same direction, especially on the economy. Where do you stand on this? How do you see the landscape? Well, guys, great to be with all of you. Thank you so much. I'm very optimistic. And, you know, I've been watching the nationwide polls. It's one district by district, inch by inch. And as we look at the polling in the districts that are actually up for grabs, Republicans are doing very well because we have better candidates, because we actually have a record to run on. And for the first time in my lifetime, we've got more money. So we're able to actually go out and communicate with voters in a real way. Congressman, in the last hour, we talked to the assistant attorney general for the National Fraud Enforcement Division, and he really laid out the multitude of ways that this administration has cracked down on fraud in so many different federal programs all over the country. This is significant and a big win for the administration. But how do you turn that into effective messaging on the campaign trail for those running for reelection? Well, it'd be easy if everyone would watch Fox News, but, you know, not everybody does. And so we have to spend a lot of money to go out and communicate with the voters. And, you know, we've got we've built the largest ground game we've ever had for Congress. And we've got folks out and they've been knocking doors, making phone calls for months, having that direct voter contact, talking to voters and telling them, you know, look, we know you're struggling. We know things are tough out there, but Republicans are working to make your lives better. Here's a few things we're doing. That direct voter contact, the advertising we're doing, you know, Tom Emmer used to always say, if they're going to lie about us, we're going to tell the truth about them. That's how you do it. And, you know, the map is very small. There's only a few seats up for grabs. We are very focused on communicating with voters in those seats. And that's why we're going to win. Chairman Hudson, Congressman, data centers are becoming a major issue in the midterms, especially in what I call the Southern Appalachian states, Virginia, Georgia, your state. And Democrats are, well, they're campaigning on doom and gloom scenarios. Take this out. If A.I. surpasses human intelligence, this technology will escape human control with potentially catastrophic consequences. Getting to the best system first doesn't matter if people don't use it or if A.I. has killed all of us. We're dealing here with real peril. Consequences are very great. We have a technology that is dangerous. Yeah, likewise, Democrat consultants now are reportedly warning candidates to ease up on these attacks against A.I. specifically over concerns there could be a major pushback. So it's kind of two issues here, right? You have data centers which compute A.I. and store A.I. And then you have A.I. as a topic. I want to move over to the data center. So I live in northwest Georgia. Dalton, Georgia is not far from me. There are a lot of there's a lot of scuttle right now. Their property taxes are going up and they just signed off on a tax benefit for an A.I. data center to come on board. And in 2027, they're saying, hey, how are you telling us that these two things may not be related, but it's up to the politicians to explain that. Are the benefits of data centers and districts, are they even tangible before the midterms or are people getting a bad bill of goods on this? Well, Joey, great questions. First of all, you know, we got our hands on a memo. Hakeem Jeffries, Super PAC, says that they think data centers is a great issue to beat up Republicans and they're going to use it. They even listed out some of the districts they're going to use these attacks for. So they see it as a political tool. They don't see it as a as a problem in these solutions. And and that that's that's a shame. And it just underscores the fact that Democrats have nothing to run on, no agenda, no ideas. But when it comes to data centers, look, Republicans understand we've got to have A.I. infrastructure. But just last week in Congress, we passed a bill called the Ratepayer Protection Act authored by Congressman Gabe Evans from Colorado, which protects the public from things like higher rates on your energy costs, on use of water, on the environment. Listen, Republicans have solutions to protect the American people from any harm that could come if we get this wrong. We are focused on on the American people and their needs. The Democrats have nothing to offer. In fact, the only bill they had on the week on the bill on the House floor last week was to impeach President Trump. So that's what they're for. We're looking for solutions. There are real concerns about data centers, but we can do it the right way. We can protect the public. Yeah, I think I wanted to follow up real quick and just give a chance here. Use a great line just now. You said they see it as political. They don't see it as a problem that needs solutions. Do you think that the messaging from Republicans mirrors that statement? Are they acknowledging, hey, this is a problem that needs solutions and that's our job? Or are they, in my opinion, following President Trump's lead and saying, hey, if you're not for this, then you're going backwards? Well, I mean, you know, you can parse words, but what I've said to my candidates who run for Congress is, look, we've got to have AI infrastructure, but there are real concerns about building these data centers and what kind of impact they can have on communities. There's also, as Fox News has reported, a massive disinformation campaign scaring the American people. A lot of things that just aren't true about these data centers. And so what I've told my candidates is, look, lean in, talk about the need for AI infrastructure, but let folks know that Republicans want to protect the American people from things like higher energy rates, use of water, excessive use of water. There are a lot of concerns people have that are legitimate, and we are addressing those, and we're protecting the American people. Yeah, Congressman, it seems to me that in his last presidency, President Trump had to deal with COVID and all of the fears around that. And now in this presidency, he's dealing with AI and the fears around that. But it seems like he might have a real opportunity here to show great leadership and lead responsibly by handling this correctly. So what's the messaging to voters about that, how President Trump and the administration and the Republican candidates that you're running can be leaders on this issue? Well, it's a great question. President Trump's the best messenger I've ever seen, so I don't think he needs advice from me. And I think he has led on this. He's been very responsible. His administration has led. We understand you've got to have an AI infrastructure, but we also need to protect the public from higher energy rates, from too much water. A lot of concerns people have, noise. There are a lot of concerns when you build these data centers, but there's also a lot of examples of communities that have benefited. Loudoun County, Virginia, just outside of D.C., cut their property rates by a third after opening data centers and getting the tax revenue from that. And in Loudoun County, energy rates actually went down because you were spreading out the cost with those data centers. Also, there's a parish down in Louisiana where Meta built the largest data center in the world. I forget how many millions of square feet, but they gave every teacher in that parish a $50,000 bonus. Those teachers make about $46,000 or $47,000 a year, and they got this huge bonus. They're walking around wearing Meta T-shirts in that parish of Louisiana. So it can be done right, but Republicans want to make sure that we protect the public from any harms that might happen. Well, Chairman Hudson, thank you for coming on and answering these questions. I'd say that was, in my opinion, one of the most at least forthright answers we've gotten on this. The butt China or butt golf courses isn't going to get it done. People need to know their concerns, even if you think they aren't legitimate or warranted. I appreciate you bringing that up, and I just want to reiterate that. Great to be with you. I appreciate it. All right, so let's stick with this AI issue, because I was at the gym at the hotel earlier and I was watching some of the political ads on TV, and you had Republicans and Democrats attacking each other on who was more pro-AI or too pro-data center, flying back and forth. I think the chairman went through and actually gave a number of really key positive examples of communities that have been impacted in a good way from these data centers, from this technology, the jobs, etc. I agree, Joe, with your point that saying butt China is not enough. Butt China, it actually is an argument, but I don't think it is sufficient to win the argument because, as we're seeing in the polling, it's not getting it done. There's a reason why the Republicans and the Democrats are both trying to out-compete each other on hostility right now in at least some places on the data center front. Yeah, I'm happy to tell our viewers I have not made my mind up on this issue. I love and appreciate anything that brings prosperity to my part of the country, as long as it doesn't mandate that my part of the country change what it looks like, sounds like, feels like, and experiences as our culture to farmland, things like that. I think that people have legitimate concerns, and I think if you don't address those concerns, you're really hurting your credibility with them. That's something that President Trump, like he said, has always had the edge on, and I don't want to see him lose it over this just because it makes sense to him and there aren't good enough messengers out there. Yeah, I do think the president is directionally correct on the issue. I think he sees the intel on what China is trying to do to surpass us and is concerned about that. I think he sees one of the key elements of our economy moving forward being this, and in fact, a lot of the job growth that we saw in that really good jobs report came in this sector. So I think he's like, hey, this is actually an economic lifeline for us in the economy right now. So he's invested, of course, in that, but are the arguments actually coming through, Anita, because the politics of this are dicey at best, I would say, for supporters of the data centers. Although, you ask an American, do you want limited data or do you want unlimited data? Everyone says I want unlimited data. Well, that doesn't come out of nowhere. That's not a magical thing that grows on trees. Right, exactly. You said Anita, but you were looking at me. Well, I was going to get to Anita in just a moment, but I was just admiring you. It was bad to have a guy. Alicia, I was just admiring your blazer so much. So, Anita, please, if you could respond to my question to you. Go ahead, Alicia. I thought the chair, thank you. I thought the tone that the chairman took was very helpful and I think it would help his party if he could get other people on board in making them understand that he gets how serious this is and he understands the concerns that are there and they're listening. People don't feel like they're being heard. But he had a way, you complimented on him, where he acknowledged the challenges here. That's important. People want to see and hear that. To the real Anita. Just real quick, I think what Joey said is the way a lot of Americans feel. You don't know. You don't know where you land on it yet because you know what? We don't know enough about it. We need to learn more about it and then we can make a decision. A lot of uncertainty and understandable uncertainty for sure.