Utah Senator Apologizes for Sharing Kevin O'Leary's 'Chinese Communists' Claim Regarding Box Elder County Data Center Opposition
Utah Senator Todd Weiler apologized for sharing celebrity investor Kevin O'Leary's unsubstantiated claims that opponents of a Box Elder County data center were funded by "Chinese communists." O'Leary had previously retracted these claims. The apology highlights the spread of misinformation regarding data center opposition.
Utah Senator Todd Weiler, a Republican from Woods Cross, issued an apology for sharing unsubstantiated claims made by celebrity investor Kevin O'Leary. O'Leary had publicly alleged that individuals opposing a data center project in Box Elder County were receiving financial support from "Chinese communists." Senator Weiler expressed that he felt "duped" by the information he had disseminated.
O'Leary himself had retracted his controversial claims the week prior to Senator Weiler's apology, acknowledging that the accusations regarding the data center opposition's funding were baseless. The article focuses on the political fallout and the senator's retraction rather than the specifics of the data center project or the nature of the opposition.