President Joe Biden's reelection campaign debuted a new ad Thursday, highlighting infrastructure jobs in Wisconsin after a historic manufacturing deal in the state touted by former President Donald Trump fell through.
In a 30-second ad titled, "Pretty Awesome," a cement mason named Kilah Engelke talks about the resurgence of jobs in Wisconsin, crediting the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law spearheaded by Biden.
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The spot is running on broadcast television throughout the state's largest media markets and on national cable. The first national spot will be on MSNBC’s Morning Joe on Friday. It is part of a previously announced 16-week $25 million advertising campaign targeting voters in battleground states such as Wisconsin.
“From Day One, President Biden has fought to build the economy from the bottom up and middle out by tackling inflation, bringing down costs, and working across the aisle to deliver good-paying jobs for people like Kilah by investing in America,” said Biden-Harris 2024 Campaign Manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez. “Our campaign is continuing to make early and aggressive investments in key states to make sure voters hear directly from trusted voices about how President Biden has delivered for them.”
The ad will air in Madison, Milwaukee, and Green Bay, Wisconsin. This comes as Foxconn recently said it was selling a building in Green Bay, along with another property in Eau Claire.
The buildings had originally been purchased as part of Taiwan electronics manufacturer Foxconn's 2017 plans for a manufacturing plant, a multi-billion dollar investment, and thousands of jobs in Wisconsin.
Foxconn's deal with the state was announced by Trump's administration and promoted as a sign that a tech manufacturing revival was occurring in the United States. By 2021, though, it was revealed that Foxconn planned to reduce its planned investment. Instead of a $10 billion infusion, Wisconsin would see just $672 million. And rather than 13,000 new jobs, only 1,454 would be delivered. Further, the 20-million-square-foot manufacturing campus wouldn't see the light of day. The planned construction would have been the largest investment in a new location from a foreign-based company.
In August, the Green Bay and Eau Claire properties were listed for sale.
"All the road builders are insanely busy right now," Engelke says in the new ad. "If someone comes in wanting or needing a job, we've got them. The infrastructure law that Joe Biden got passed is putting people back to work."
"Look at all the bridges. Look at all the roadways. Look at all of the people that are working," she said. "That's pretty awesome to have a president like Joe Biden that's fighting for good jobs. It's huge."
Following the announcement of Biden's latest ad, Trump released a statement on the president's handling of the economy. "Joe Biden shut down the Keystone XL pipeline, waged war on American energy, added hundreds of billions of dollars in regulatory burdens (over $10,000 per household), imposed a colossal tax hike, and threw open the southern border, sending millions of illegal alien migrants pouring into communities nationwide and straining local budgets and social services to the breaking point," Trump said.
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"On top of it all, Biden’s absurdly burdensome Electric Vehicle mandate is a death sentence for the U.S. auto industry — a major reason why American autoworkers are refusing to endorse him," he continued, referring to a looming strike in pivotal states if a deal is not met by Thursday evening.
In a July poll of Wisconsin voters, Trump and Biden were in a dead heat, 50% to 50%. The state is expected to be critical in the 2024 contest after going for Trump in 2016 and swinging for Biden in 2020 by small margins in each case.