Biden on Trump: He ‘didn’t build a damn thing’

President Joe Biden on Wednesday cast a major new investment in battleground Wisconsin as emblematic of the nation's economic comeback. But the main thrust of his address wasn’t so much to boast about the current climate as it was an attempt to contrast it with his predecessor’s record.

Time and again, Biden took aim at former President Donald Trump, casting him as someone who talked but didn’t deliver. Even the setting of the speech itself was meant to deliver the point: Biden was highlighting a new Microsoft data center that would be built on grounds where then-President Trump announced that Foxconn would build a $10 billion factory for making LCD panels. That plant was never built, even after the Taiwanese electronics manufacturer received millions in subsidies and bulldozed homes and farms to build the factory.

“He promised a $10 billion investment by Foxconn. He came with your senator, Ron Johnson, with a golden shovel and didn’t build a damn thing,” Biden said. “They dug a hole with those golden shovels and then they fell into it.”

In turning the spotlight on to Trump’s shortcomings, Biden was trying to close a persistent polling disconnect that has harmed his reelection campaign: Many voters perceive that his predecessor’s record was more robust than his. A new Politico-Morning Consult poll showed that 37 percent of voters believe Trump “has done more to promote infrastructure improvements and job creation,” compared to 40 percent who said the same for Biden. Trump never passed infrastructure legislation, while Biden did.

He “didn’t build a damn thing,” Biden lamented on Wednesday.

Biden has sought to sharpen his economic message in recent weeks, as progress on inflation has stalled and amid polling that’s shown continued difficulty breaking through with voters who are skeptical of the president’s record — or haven’t tuned in to the extent of his accomplishments.

The White House has responded to that stubborn awareness gap by homing in more on specific policies that have produced tangible results, eschewing the focus on “Bidenomics” and the economy’s broader upward trajectory that characterized the early stages of the campaign. During his trip to Wisconsin, Biden did the same, pointing to specifics in his economic plank — from Buy America provisions, to replacing lead pipes, to shepherding in AI manufacturing — that were creating real, localized results.

But it was also, plainly, a campaign address. Biden in his remarks repeatedly denounced Trump for only helping the wealthy and for leaving “a lot of people behind.”

The president remains underwater on voters' overall trust in his ability to shepherd the economy, hampered by high prices that swing-state voters say continue to stretch their budgets. While inflation has fallen from its highs and wages are still rising, Americans' focus on the cost of everyday items like groceries and gas has overshadowed economic gains elsewhere.

And it would be difficult for Biden to retain the White House this fall without winning Wisconsin and the other two Great Lakes states — Michigan and Pennsylvania — that make up the so-called Blue Wall. Winning those three would put him on the doorstep of the 270 Electoral College votes even were he to lose the other battleground states. But a loss in any one of them would make the president’s path to victory much more challenging, aides and Democrats concede.

Biden advisers have largely shrugged off the lackluster polling, arguing that the president will make gains on the ground as voters see the results of his economic agenda — and see ads and hear from allies who make the connection between those projects and Biden himself.

Last week, Biden traveled to North Carolina to highlight a $3 billion bid to replace toxic lead pipes — another of the kinds of infrastructure investments that might not make national news but that advisers believe will resonate with people in the state who stand to benefit directly.

Biden at the same time has used those stops to hammer Trump over his own record, blasting the former president for failing to make lasting progress despite repeated promises.

A White House fact sheet sent to reporters on Wednesday made particular note of the Foxconn failure, claiming that “unlike his predecessor, [Biden] wouldn’t leave communities like Racine behind.”

Microsoft’s project is receiving none of the government incentives once promised to Foxconn. The tech giant will foot the entire $3.3 billion bill for its sprawling new AI datacenter. Although Washington isn’t putting up money for Microsoft’s new AI center, the project should help the White House and Congress achieve some of their broader priorities on AI and emerging technologies. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer touted Microsoft’s new Wisconsin datacenter in a floor speech on Wednesday, claiming it will “create thousands of new, good-paying jobs and help America keep a competitive edge on AI.” Biden, in his speech, noted that he was helping usher in an AI boom but with guardrails. But he wasn’t framing it in terms of making the U.S. into a cutting-edge economy so much as revitalizing the communities that Trump had promised to save.

"In just four years under his administration, instead of creating 13,000 jobs in Racine, 1,000 manufacturing jobs left Racine," Biden said. "But that’s not on my watch. We’re determined to turn it around."

Brendan Bordelon contributed to this report.