In week two of the so-called “revamped” 60 Minutes, after the show’s big exclusive interview with Patrick Clancy, the second story of Sunday’s new episode focused on AI data centers, specifically backlash against them in Texas. In her story, correspondent Norah O’Donnell focused partially on Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbot while also diving into the 2026 gubernatorial election as she painted Democrat nominee for Texas governor, Gina Hinojosa, in a positive light compared to Abbott, even playing an anti-Abbott advertisement.
Over the past few years, 60 Minutes has bashed Abbott on his state's border security measures taken amid the Biden Administration’s border crisis. The anti-Abbott interviews were part of the Sunday magazine show’s five-to-one bias in favor of liberal and anti-conservative stories to conservatives ones.
O’Donnell’s introduction framed data centers as a key issue in the midterms. She began, “America, and the world, are in the midst of one of the most profound technological revolutions in human history, with artificial intelligence poised to transform nearly every aspect of how we live and work.”
She then continued with a connection to the 2026 midterms:
In her introduction, Norah O’Donnell framed the data center debate around the midterms: “They are the factories of the AI age, vast industrial warehouses, packed with powerful computer chips consuming enormous amounts of electricity. With more than 3,000 of them across the… pic.twitter.com/XWYyebIiUY
— Nick (@nspin310) September 21, 2026
Behind this seemingly invisible revolution is something very physical: data centers. They are the factories of the AI age, vast industrial warehouses, packed with powerful computer chips consuming enormous amounts of electricity. With more than 3,000 of them across the country, and another 1,500 proposed, data centers are now one of the top issues in the midterm elections. So we went to Texas, where everything is bigger, including the development of data centers, to understand the backlash happening nationwide.
The piece began with an interview with Jazmin Villegas, an anti-data center activist. O’Donnell described Villegas as a “mother of five and Marine veteran” who “felt called back to duty.” Villegas responded and said her Marine enlistment led her to her current anti-data center activism.:
Ma'am, just because I'm not in uniform doesn't mean that my service to this country has ended. I stand strongly behind my oath that I took when I enlisted to, you know, protect and defend this Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic.
Week two of the “revamped” '60 Minutes' returned to old, familiar roots as Sunday’s episode went after Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott in a story on data centers by correspondent Norah O’Donnell. Previously, the show had slammed Abbott over his border security policies… pic.twitter.com/bUgtVit0ye
— Nick (@nspin310) September 21, 2026
After O’Donnell detailed town hall meetings where AI has become a centerpiece of discussion, she turned to politics to specifically slam Gov. Greg Abbott on the issue amid his re-election campaign.
O’Donnell exclaimed, “In Texas, attracting big tech was the goal of Republican Gov. Greg Abbott,” before a clip played of Abbot at a previous event with Google over construction of data centers.
She then turned to paint his Democratic opponent, Hinojosa, in a positive light: “The Democrat running against him in November, Gina Hinojosa, has made data centers a key issue in her campaign and is calling for a temporary moratorium.”
An ad from Hinojosa then played, which said: “Who authorized that? Greg Abbott. Abbott took 20 million in campaign donations from data center executives and companies.”
O’Donnell later said, “Governor Abbott has changed his tune,” before playing a new clip of Abbott which showed concerns over data centers “in our neighborhoods.” She then stated, “In August, he paused approval of new data centers that would draw from the state's power grid until they complete an audit.”
In more election framing, O’Donnell interviewed a self-described “lifelong conservative Republican and asked, “Are you thinking about voting differently?”
The voter then stated, “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.”
Again, besides the big get of an interview with Patrick Clancy, 60 Minutes proved once again to have not changed, as it once again bashed Abbott, as it did in multiple border security-related stories over the past few years. In 2022, then-correspondent Anderson Cooper bashed Abbott for sending illegal immigrants on buses to blue cities. Also, in 2024, now-fired correspondent Cecilia Vega, in an interview on Abbott's border security policies amid the Biden-era border crisis, asked: “Do you believe that Texas has the right to secede?”
As even CNN’s Brian Stelter stated last week, 60 Minutes is still 60 Minutes.
The transcript is below. Click "expand":
CBS’s 60 Minutes
September 21, 2026
7:22:32 PM Eastern
(...)
NORAH O’DONNELL: America, and the world, are in the midst of one of the most profound technological revolutions in human history, with artificial intelligence poised to transform nearly every aspect of how we live and work. Behind this seemingly invisible revolution is something very physical: data centers. They are the factories of the AI age, vast industrial warehouses, packed with powerful computer chips consuming enormous amounts of electricity. With more than 3,000 of them across the country, and another 1,500 proposed, data centers are now one of the top issues in the midterm elections. So we went to Texas, where everything is bigger, including the development of data centers, to understand the backlash happening nationwide.
[Cuts to news package]
O'DONNELL: All this agricultural land will look like what?
JAZMIN VILLEGAS: It'll be nothing but data center buildings, concrete.
O'DONNELL: This is just part of it?
VILLEGAS: Yes. This is just one little bit, as far as you can see.
O’DONNELL: Jazmin Villegas lives on this quiet farm just outside Dallas, Texas. When she learned that a data center campus almost three times the size of this one a few miles away would be built next door, this mother of five and Marine veteran felt called back to duty.
[To Villegas] How did you become the go-to person at the center of this fight against the data centers?
VILLEGAS: Ma'am, just because I'm not in uniform doesn't mean that my service to this country has ended. I stand strongly behind my oath that I took when I enlisted to, you know, protect and defend this Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic.
O'DONNELL: And you believe the data centers are an enemy?
VILLEGAS: We're not sure. That's the thing. It might not be an enemy, per s. But how do I know that these chemicals or this pollution, water, air, noise, isn't going to affect my community, isn't going to affect me?
O’DONNELL: In town halls and on social media, data centers have become vessels for other worries and fears: of rising prices, the power of the tech elite, congestion and crowding, and a dawning AI era that threatens livelihoods and futures.
(...)
7:28:40 PM Eastern
O’DONNELL: In Texas, attracting big tech was the goal of Republican Gov. Greg Abbott.
GOV. GREG ABBOTT [At previous event]: Texas will be the centerpiece for AI data centers for Google in the entire world.
O’DONNELL: The Democrat running against him in November, Gina Hinojosa, has made data centers a key issue in her campaign and is calling for a temporary moratorium.
GINA HINOJOSA (D) AD: Who authorized that? Greg Abbott. Abbott took 20 million in campaign donations from data center executives and companies.
O’DONNELL: Governor Abbott has changed his tune.
ABBOTT: Pushing back against these AI data centers that are trying to build in our neighborhoods.
O’DONNELL: In August, he paused approval of new data centers that would draw from the state's power grid until they complete an audit.
DAVE LOWE: You know I worry about the traffic, the congestion, the-- the noise. I worry about the environmental impacts and the impacts it has on-- on where I live.
O’DONNELL: Dave Lowe lives right by the proposed data center in Red Oak - and told us he's a lifelong conservative Republican.
[To Lowe] Are you thinking about voting differently?
LOWE: 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. 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.
O’DONNELL: Opposition to data centers is one of the rare issues uniting Americans across the political divide. More than 60% of Republicans, Independents, and Democrats all agree they don't want a data center where they live.
(...)
