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Biden trolls Trump as he touts new Microsoft project in 2024 battleground Wisconsin

President Joe Biden speaks about his Investing in America agenda at Gateway Technical College, May 8, 2024, in Sturtevant, Wisconsin (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)

(WASHINGTON) – President Joe Biden took shots at former President Donald Trump on Wednesday as he traveled to Wisconsin to tout a new multi-billion dollar Microsoft investment in the same place where a Trump administration project failed.

The event in the 2024 election battleground state, billed by the White House as an official stop in his capacity as president, came as Biden ramped up both campaigning and official visits across the country while his political rival was largely locked up in a Manhattan courtroom .

“The government promised a $10 trillion investment by Foxconn to build a new manufacturing complex and create 13,000 new jobs. In fact, he came here with your Senator Ron Johnson, literally holding a gold shovel, and promised to build the eighth wonder of the world,” Biden said, taking care not to use Trump’s name and calling him only “my predecessor.” .

Biden instead announced a $3.3 billion investment by Microsoft to build an AI data center at the Racine, Wisconsin site. The data center will be in the same location that Trump had planned for the Taiwanese technology company Foxconn to invest billions of dollars in 2018.

That facility failed to materialize even after the Biden administration said local and state governments had put $500 million in taxpayer money into preparing the site.

“Are you kidding me? Look what happened. They dug a hole with those gold shovels, and then they fell in,” Biden continued, trolling Trump.

Biden referred to a groundbreaking ceremony in 2018 in which Trump participated with other officials, all holding gold shovels. Then-President Trump shoveled dirt against the backdrop of the construction site, tractors and a large American flag.

“They wasted hundreds of millions of dollars, your state and local tax dollars, promising a project that never happened,” Biden added. “Foxconn turned out to be just that: a scammer.”

Biden promised thousands of new jobs and his comments were intended to draw a contrast between the Trump administration’s economic policies and the current White House approach — a message he continues to lean on as he looks to boost his economic performance to sell to the American people prior to the crisis. November elections.

“Folks, during the last administration, my predecessor made promises that he broke more than he kept, and he left many people behind in communities like Racine. Under my supervision, we make promises and keep promises. And we won’t leave anyone behind,” Biden said.

This official stop, in the critical swing state of Wisconsin, will be followed by a campaign event in the state.

Wednesday’s speech in Wisconsin is just the latest official event Biden has made in key electoral states. Last week he was in North Carolina to encourage new funding to help replace lead pipes across the state and country.

He has also visited the important swing state of Pennsylvania, for both campaign and official presidential events.

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