MAGA Republican Sid Miller: Greg Abbott’s Data Center Crackdown is “Smoke and Mirrors” [Rolling Stone]
DALLAS, TX – In a stunning new interview with Rolling Stone, MAGA Republican Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller blasted career politician Greg Abbott’s handling of the state’s data center boom, accusing the governor of ignoring calls for action until the issue threatened him politically and calling his recent crackdown “smoke and mirrors,” saying Abbott “may lose” his reelection.
Miller told the magazine he previously urged Abbott to impose a moratorium on new data centers, call a special session, and give back millions of dollars in campaign contributions from data center special interests – but Abbott refused.
Miller joins Tucker Carlson and other Republicans who’ve spoken out recently, warning that Abbott is in trouble.
Read for yourself:
Rolling Stone: THE TRUMP-LOVING TEXAS REPUBLICAN SOUNDING THE ALARM ON DATA CENTERSBy Nikki McCann Ramirez | September 28, 2026
“By sheer numbers, Texas’ stock of existing and planned data centers is bigger than China’s. The state, under the auspices of three-term Republican Governor Greg Abbott, has become an incentive paradise for tech companies looking to capitalize on the AI boom. It might be backfiring.”
“He’s responding to polls because now he sees what I saw — that this is a campaign issue, and he’s got a hell of a lot closer race than he ever thought he’d have.” – Sid Miller
“This is one of the issues that’s giving him pain, so in response to the polls, he’s trying to look like he’s doing something. It’s really just smoke and mirrors.” – Sid Miller
“I called on him for a one-year moratorium. Well, he wouldn’t do that. He wouldn’t do anything for a long time, other than take $21 million from data center interests.” – Sid Miller
“Even though he stopped TCEQ from issuing new permits, that doesn’t do anything to the other four or five hundred that have already got them.” – Sid Miller
Miller’s comments come as Abbott is locked in his toughest re-election ever after 30 years in public office and after he took $20 million in data center special interests, handed them some of the biggest tax giveaways in the nation, and vowed to make Texas the AI epicenter just last November.
As The Washington Post recently reported, Abbott flip-flopped on data centers after “realizing that being pro-data center and on the ballot this November was a recipe for disaster.