Gavin Newsom Drags Fox News For Starting 'War On Christmas' With Their Bleak Advice About Christmas Trees

California Governor Gavin Newsom was not impressed by Fox Business host Dagen McDowell, who stunned her colleagues on The Big Money Show when she suggested that people should buy fake Christmas trees to make way for AI data centers.

McDowell's comments came in response to reporting from Gaver Farm in Mount Airy, where a local Christmas tree operation is fighting plans tied to the $424 million Maryland Piedmont Reliability Project.

The project would install four massive transmission towers on the farm’s land as part of a high-voltage line slated to cut across three Maryland counties, moving forward despite the farm’s objections.

This is a significant problem, and its consequences should be outlined to understand the gravity of McDowell's suggestion.

Data centers—vast, industrial buildings packed with servers, networking hardware, and storage systems—form the physical backbone of modern computing. While such facilities date back to the mid-20th century, emerging alongside the first general-purpose digital computers, their construction has surged dramatically in recent years as artificial intelligence has moved from theory to daily use.

That growth has brought mounting environmental concerns into sharper focus. Over the last year, researchers and journalists have increasingly scrutinized the energy and water demands of popular generative A.I. tools such as ChatGPT.

According to a Forbes report, the water required to sustain just one ChatGPT conversation is comparable to the amount contained in a typical disposable plastic water bottle.

Despite this, McDowell defended the energy project and said people should simply get used to buying fake Christmas trees:

"If this farm is 150 acres, yeah, there's gonna be farms and there will be transmission lines to go through development and farms. That's the very nature of a growing economy. Everybody needs to get on board."

"You know what? Buy a fake tree!”

You can hear what she said in the video below.

Earlier, McDowell said:

“If there is a need for electricity generation and a conduit like power lines to bring electricity to a densely populated area of business and growth like northern Virginia, then it is not about AI, it is about economic growth for the United States, number one."

“Number two, it is a tree farm — not growing food. The alternative would be some liberal puts some giant solar panels on that land, and you won’t be growing any Christmas trees, either.”

McDowell suggested "that the United States would gladly saw off Maryland and kick it into the Atlantic Ocean if you don’t like it." She also refused to acknowledge AI's detrimental impacts, only saying that the project represents "growth and development of business.”

In came Newsom, who observed:

"Why is Fox News starting a war on Christmas?"

You can see his post below.

Indeed, Fox News dedicates considerable coverage each year to the alleged "War on Christmas." This manufactured notion that the holiday is under attack has long mobilized conservatives.

In 2021, conservative commentator Meghan McCain jumped to the defense of "radical" Republicans after authorities arrested a man in connection with the burning of a Christmas tree outside the Fox News building.

No one was hurt in the blaze and firefighters were able to quickly extinguish it. However, the news of the blaze angered McCain, who seemed to suggest that the destruction of property is evidence that Democratic politicians are as "radical" as the Republicans they've criticized.

Newsmax—which has absolutely bought into the claims that Democrats are waging a "war" against the holiday—has published lists of supposed occurrences across the country to support this notion, once criticizing producer Shonda Rhimes' Scandal for incorporating the holiday song "Silent Night" during a scene in which a main character gets an abortion.

So yeah, Fox... what's up with that?

People echoed Newsom's criticism and pushed back against McDowell's suggestion.

Let's be clear: Fox won't be less Grinchy anytime soon.