RACINE, Wisconsin — President Joe Biden talked up a $3.3 billion Microsoft project in battleground Wisconsin while needling his general election opponent in a Wednesday speech.
Former President Donald Trump held a similar event in Racine six years ago to promote a $10 billion development from Taiwanese chip manufacturer Foxconn, one that ended up being scaled back later.
“He came here with your senator, Ron Johnson, literally holding a golden shovel, promising to build the ‘eighth wonder of the world.’ Are you kidding me?” Biden told the crowd in Racine. “Look what happened. They dug a hole with those golden shovels and then they fell into it.
“Foxconn turned out to be just that — a con,” he said. “Go figure.”
“Despite changes in market demand and other challenges, Hon Hai Technology Group (Foxconn) continues to grow with its community in Wisconsin,” a Foxconn spokesman said in a statement. “Foxconn Wisconsin is a key manufacturing site for data servers. Our global market share in servers is approx. 40%. … We are proud of the over 1,000 men and women who work at Foxconn Wisconsin and help make that happen.”
More broadly, Biden also criticized Trump’s “trickle-down” economic and industrial-based policies, though did not refer to him by his name, only as his “predecessor.”
Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley scrutinized Biden’s own record, contending the president “is trying to save face in Racine County as Wisconsinites feel the pain of Bidenomics.”
“Manufacturing has stalled, family farms are shuttering, and costs are up for everything from electricity and gas to food and housing,” Whatley wrote in a statement. “It’s no wonder why Biden is losing in Wisconsin and battleground states across the country: his policies have failed and people want President Trump back in office.”
Microsoft’s data center project, announced hours before Biden appeared onstage, will include 2,300 construction jobs followed by 2,000 permanent ones, according to the White House.
“Microsoft will partner with Gateway Technical College to develop a datacenter academy that trains 1,000 Wisconsinites for datacenter and STEM roles by 2030,” a release from the White House reads. “Microsoft will build a Co-Innovation Lab in southeast Wisconsin, as well as team up with the startup accelerator Gener8tor to train 1,000 business leaders to adopt AI in their operations, so that Wisconsin manufacturers can seize AI’s promise.”
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Microsoft Vice Chairman and President Brad Smith also spoke at the event, describing the project as “building the world’s most advanced AI and cloud data centers.”
“This isn’t just about building a building, and it’s not just about the manufacturing jobs of today,” Smith told the crowd. “More than anything, this project is about using the power of AI to fuel the future of manufacturing companies, and jobs, and skills across the state of Wisconsin and around the country.”
