Blue-collar workers have been at the center of political messaging for years. Politicians meet with waitresses at a diner to pitch raising the minimum wage, tour a factory to spotlight job growth or tell stories of their family’s hardscrabble bona fides while visiting cities like Detroit or Pittsburgh.
Lately, though, a different group has been getting more attention: white-collar professionals. And Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is at the forefront of this development.
The Republican governor expressed concern in August that “some of these white-collar jobs … could end up being obsolete” due to advancements in AI. In September, he said the H-1B visa program was “especially galling” at a time when AI “is forecast to reduce a significant number of white-collar jobs.” And in November, he worried about predictions that AI is “going to really undercut a lot of jobs — a lot of white-collar jobs.”
“I don’t think that’s a good thing,” he said, adding, “Why would we subsidize something that could potentially cause problems for folks?”
DeSantis’ political rise has been based in large part on his ability to see where the puck is going. He positioned himself as an early opponent of Covid regulations. And he was at the forefront of right-wing attacks on trans issues years before President Donald Trump made them part of his closing message in the 2024 campaign. Now, he’s a leading political voice on AI skepticism ahead of a looming shift in U.S. politics in which the fears of white-collar workers — a college-educated and increasingly Democratic demographic — will be more pronounced.
Other officials are sounding the alarm, too, including Sens. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., and Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., as well as California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat.
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