President Joe Biden went on the offensive on Wednesday, delivering a series of sharp criticisms of the GOP while visiting a wind tower manufacturing facility in conservative firebrand Rep. Lauren Boebert’s competitive Colorado House district.
"The historic investments we're celebrating today, is in Congress[woman] Bobert’s district,” Biden said. “She's one of the leaders of this extreme MAGA movement.”
The president made the trip to Boebert’s home turf to tour CS Winds — the largest facility for wind tower manufacturing currently undergoing a $200 million expansion that is expected to create 850 jobs by 2026 with help from the tax benefits in Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act.
“She called this law a massive failure. You all know you're part of a massive failure?” Biden said to the workers and local officials gathered for his speech. “Tell that to the 850 Coloradans who get new jobs in Pueblo and CS Winds thanks to this law. Tell that to the local economy that is going to benefit from these investments.”
The president ticked through his usual points of emphasis when selling his economic vision: highlighting that he is seeking to grow the economy from the “middle out and the bottom up” and he is creating jobs in addressing the climate.
“When I think climate, and I mean this sincerely, I think jobs, jobs,” Biden forcefully reiterated. “That's what climate is about — not only saving lives and saving the environment but jobs.”
But this time, Biden, who has struggled to find his economic-messaging footing amid his 2024 bid as a now months-long campaign to convince voters his agenda is working under the name “Bidenomics” has not appeared to change his relatively low approval ratings, fully leaned into comparing his record to former President Donald Trump.
“Our economy grew by over 5% in the last quarter,” the president said. “That's more than it grew under my predecessor in any quarter outside the pandemic, despite promises of massive tax cuts for the wealthy, and corporations, which they said would supercharge the economy and trickle down to working folks.”
Biden also called out Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Fla., for taking a tour of Sarasota Bradenton International Airport’s terminal expansion project, which is also receiving funds from Biden’s bipartisan infrastructure law — an act they both voted against.
Biden was originally scheduled to visit Pueblo on Oct. 16, but the trip was postponed amid the Israel-Hamas war. That night, Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced Biden would be making the trip to Tel Aviv that week.
Boebert taunted Biden from Washington, where she said, “I hope there’s not a Silver Alert that goes out for him” during his trip. The alerts can be sent for missing elderly people with dementia.
Democrats have their sights set on picking up the Colorado Republican’s district next year after Boebert barely held on to the seat in 2022 midterms after only taking office in 2020. In 2024, she faces a likely rematch against Democratic candidate Adam Frisch.
The president on Wednesday also emphasized his push to invest in rural communities. A new analysis from the Treasury Department said clean energy investments have mostly flowed to communities with below-average wages and above-average child poverty. The White House said the data indicated that Biden’s policies are expanding economic opportunity.
“When I took office, I vowed to be a president for all Americans, whether you live in a blue state or red state, whether you live in a rural area or urban area,” Biden said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report