Biden takes digs at Trump in Midwest trip promoting infrastructure projects

SUPERIOR, Wis. — Looking to shore up his support in the upper Midwest, President Joe Biden visited the Wisconsin-Minnesota border Thursday to showcase the sort of road and bridge improvements he said his predecessor never accomplished in office.

Biden spoke at a brewery here that stands to benefit from a planned $1 billion project to replace the more than 60-year-old Blatnik Bridge connecting Superior to Duluth, Minnesota.

His visit was a two-for-one proposition, putting him at the junction of two crucial states that he captured in 2020 and will need to win again if he’s to prevail in an expected rematch with former President Donald Trump in November.

“The Midwest is coming back,” Biden said at Earth Rider Brewery, standing in front of a row of stainless steel cylinders used to ferment beer.

As the presidential race barrels toward another Biden-Trump showdown, Democrats are scrambling to address a stubborn reality: Polls show that many voters are dimly aware of Biden’s accomplishments thus far.

Biden’s appearance was part of a broader attempt to remind voters that he has made more progress than they may realize. Funding for the bridge is coming from an infrastructure spending package he signed in 2021. With 33,000 vehicles crossing the Blatnik Bridge every day, Biden said, local businesses like the brewery are depending on the upgrade to retain customers and accommodate workers.

“It’s outdated in design,” Biden said, mentioning the bridge’s “tight curves and higher-than-average car accident rate and traffic congestion.”

“For decades, people talked about replacing this bridge. But it never got done — until today,” Biden added.

Joel Heller, 47, a Duluth resident who attended the speech, is well aware of the bridge’s failings. Heller, a disabled veteran, said he uses it to reach a veterans health care facility in Superior.

“I’m watching a billion-dollar bridge being built that is important to both towns,” Heller said in an interview. “I have to take that bridge. There’s no pullover spot if you get a flat tire.”

The bridge project is among infrastructure investments in Minnesota and Wisconsin totaling nearly $12 billion, Biden said. Mocking his predecessor, he said Trump’s “infrastructure weeks” fizzled so often that the phrase became a punchline.

“On my watch, instead of infrastructure week, America is having an infrastructure decade,” Biden said.

Before he arrived in Wisconsin, the pro-Trump Make America Great Again political action committee said in a statement that Biden’s economic policies have failed.

“The harsh reality of Bidenomics is all too clear every time Wisconsinites go to the gas station, the grocery store, or try to heat their homes,” the statement said.

Biden wore a blue half-zip pullover over a collared shirt, reflecting a more relaxed look that some of his advisers believe may help allay concerns about his age, 81, and vigor. He chose a friendly spot for his appearance: The city is in Douglas County, which he won 54% to 44% in the 2020 election.

With a small audience of invited guests, no protesters got into the event, as they’ve managed to do in some of Biden’s recent public appearances. On a sidewalk across the street from the brewery, though, protesters held signs and denounced Israel’s military offensive in Gaza. “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” they chanted.

Biden used the speech to take a few other swipes at Trump. He mentioned an interview in which Trump said that he expected the economy to crash and that he hoped it happened in the next 12 months.

“Can you believe it?” Biden said. “He said he’s hoping it would happen soon while I’m still president.”