Republican flees press conference after question on top voter concern

Former Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Mich.) shut down questions during a Thursday morning press conference.

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In a video posted by Craig Mauger from the Detroit News, Rogers was talking about issues like affordability and manufacturing.

The full video shows the campaign calling on reporters, but swiftly ending the presser after Mauger shouts out his question about data centers.

“Thanks,” Rogers said, walking away. “I think we need to take a pause, probably, and make sure we’re answering all the questions on that.”

“Does that mean a moratorium?” asked Mauger.

Rogers then walked away while he staff waved their arms to clear away the press.

The anti-data center movement has been a major thorn in the side for pro-business Republicans, who are trying to make the case that artificial intelligence will bring jobs to the area.

A planning commission meeting in Bay City, Michigan on Wednesday included residents concerned that new data centers could increase electricity bills, strain water supplies and bring limited long-term jobs, reported MLive.com.

Rogers has broadly supported data center expansions in the past. Bridge Michigan reported in June that Rogers “endorsed President Donald Trump’s .”

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Data centers were part of the debate among Democratic candidates in the primary. Abdul El-Sayed has spoken out in support of data centers, as long as the facilities don’t harm the electrical grid or the environment.

“We want to make sure that if you want to put a data center anywhere that it’s going to meet the following terms: all union labor, no raising our utility rates, increasing our utility reliability, not touching our water,” El-Sayed said in a June debate hosted by WOOD-TV.

The event comes after Rogers was revealed to have accepted nearly $100,000 in donations from key players in the telecommunications sector throughout his time in office, the Michigan Advance reported on Wednesday.

“Rogers’ work with AT&T and its contribution to his campaign coincided with legislation he introduced that appeared to align with AT&T’s lobbying efforts on behalf of legislation criticized by civil liberties groups, as well as their fight against net neutrality, which advocates have called one of the guiding regulation principles for a free and open internet,” said the report.

Rogers proposed legislation that would have “allowed telecom companies and internet service providers, or ISPs, to legally hand over swaths of private user data, including personally identifiable customer information, to the federal government, including agencies such as the National Security Agency, without judicial oversight.” This would all be accessible without a warrant.

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