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Biden Touts Clean Energy And Union Jobs In Manitowoc

Drew Angerer
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Democratic presidential nominee and former Vice President Joe Biden arrives to speak after touring Jerry Alander Carpenter Training Center on Sept. 18 in Hermantown, Minn. He visited Manitowoc, Wis., several days later.

Democratic presidential Nominee Joe Biden made his latest campaign stop in Wisconsin. On Monday, he traveled to Manitowoc, a city of about 32,000 people on the shore of Lake Michigan.

Joe Biden gave his address at the Wisconsin Aluminum Foundry, where he stood at a lectern wearing a face mask and flanked by aluminum products.

Biden told plant workers he's the better candidate for American manufacturing because he'll invest in clean energy that will help boost demand for manufactured goods, like the castings made at the foundry. 

“Under my build back better plan, we're not only going to build infrastructure we need in this country with union workers and prevailing wage, we're gonna do something else. We're going to rebuild manufacturing in this country and we'll do it by enforcing a real buy American plan,” says Biden.

Biden also criticized President Trump’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, saying Trump's inaction and cover-up is responsible for COVID-19 deaths in the U.S.

“Two hundred thousand deaths recorded as of [Monday] because of the coronavirus. 200,000 deaths all across this nation. And so many of them didn't have to lose their lives with this virus. Quite frankly, if only the president had acted sooner,” he says.

>>'Enormous And Tragic': US Has Lost More Than 200,000 People To COVID-19

Credit Stephen Maturen / Getty Images
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Jill Brunscheen, a supporter of Democratic presidential nominee and former Vice President Joe Biden, attends a rally outside the Wisconsin Aluminum Foundry on Sept. 21 in Manitowoc.

Biden is hoping to gain ground in a county that voted overwhelmingly for President Trump in 2016 by appealing to those voters who voted for Obama eight years earlier.

“I want to spend just a few moments talking about those who voted for Donald Trump last time. When I was out here in the Obama administration, you voted for us. And then a lot a lot of people in this county changed and they voted for Trump last time," he says. "I know many of you were frustrated, you're angry, you believe we weren't seen, you weren't being seen, represented or heard. I get it. It has to change. And I promise you this, I will, it will change with me."

The Republican Party of Wisconsin reacted to Biden's visit. Chairman Andrew Hitt released a statement saying the Democratic candidate is “desperately trying to reverse his eroding support amongst middle-class Americans.” Hitt also claims Trump has a stronger record on trade than the former vice president.

Biden's visit to the state follows the trip Trump made to Mosinee just last week. In that stop, Trump sought to boost enthusiasm among rural voters by touting a law and order message, and arguing that a Biden presidency would open the door to “rioters, anarchists, arsonists and flag burners.”

The latest Marquette Law School Pollshows Biden with a slight lead over Trump in Wisconsin, within the margin of error. Trump carried the state with a fewer than 23,000-vote lead in 2016.

Angelina Mosher Salazar joined WUWM in 2018 as the Eric Von Broadcast Fellow. She was then a reporter with the station until 2021.
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