PUEBLO — President Joe Biden, surrounded by American flags and standing against a backdrop of massive steel tubes destined for wind turbines, attempted to pound home the economic benefits of his signature big-spending legislation during his second visit to Colorado this year.
“We’re investing in America (and) investing in Americans. And it’s working,” Biden said Wednesday during a 24-minute speech from a temporary stage on the factory floor of CS Wind, the largest wind turbine tower manufacturer in the world.
The stop was part of the Democratic president’s “Investing in America” tour to tout the benefits of the Inflation Reduction Act and other laws passed early in his term. The South Korea-based CS Wind cited the law as a factor in its $200 million investment in expanded capacity at the Pueblo plant, and with it, the creation of more than 800 new jobs.
Tony Salerno, a production manager for CS Wind, said during introductory remarks that “this factory found new life” when Biden signed the act into law.
The setting gave Biden a jumping-off point to cast the economy as strong — even as he acknowledged that there’s “more work to do” to slow down inflation.
Unemployment has sat below 4% for a stretch not seen since the 1950s, he said, and America’s share of manufacturing for high-tech components such as microchips is rebounding. More than 250,000 new jobs have started in Colorado alone during his administration, Biden said.
Despite that messaging and the positive data points, voters have a sour view of the economy — and they largely blame Biden for it, according to recent polls.
A Gallup poll released Tuesday showed a 37% overall approval rating for Biden as he ramps up his reelection campaign. The survey found that just 32% of adults approve of his handling of the economy.
Beyond his economic message, the Pueblo setting also gave Biden a stage to slam Congresswoman Lauren Boebert, a Republican whose sprawling district includes the blue-collar city, as “one of the leaders of this extreme MAGA movement” standing against his efforts.
Displaying a sly grin, he made the sign of the cross at his first mention of Boebert.
She voted against the Inflation Reduction Act and several other laws Biden credited with spurring more than $1 billion in private investment in Colorado. Boebert narrowly won reelection in 2022.
After rattling off investments in microchip manufacturing, solar energy and wind turbine manufacturing, Biden quoted Boebert’s past criticism of the IRA, chiding: “Folks, none of that sounds like a ‘massive failure’ to me.”
“You all know you’re part of a massive failure?” Biden said. “Tell that to the 850 Coloradans who get new jobs in Pueblo at CS Wind thanks to this law. Tell that to the local economy that’s going to benefit from these investments.”
Ahead of Biden’s speech, a statement from Boebert criticized the president and “Bidenomics” — a term emblazoned on a banner in the rafters during Biden’s event.
“On Joe Biden’s watch, credit card debt, inflation, groceries and gas prices have all reached record highs,” Boebert said. “These high prices are squeezing working-class Coloradans and rural America. Rather than cutting wasteful federal spending and unleashing American energy production, Joe Biden continues to pander to radical extremists, lock up more land, and spend his time focused on campaign stunts and vacations rather than doing the job he was elected to do.”
(View the White House’s recorded video on YouTube.)
Besides Boebert, Biden took aim at former President Donald Trump, now his potential 2024 election opponent.
Trump also was Biden’s focus during a fundraiser Tuesday night in Cherry Hills Village at the home of Tamara Totah Picache, a managing partner of the Flatiron Group. He drew contrasts with Trump and highlighted public response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision last year to overturn abortion rights established by Roe v. Wade.
“Donald Trump’s about to find out the power of women in America in 2024,” Biden told attendees, according to a press pool report.
The president had planned to visit Pueblo last month but postponed the trip because of the escalating conflict between Israel and Hamas. U.S. support for Israel during its war in the Gaza Strip, which was launched in response to a terrorist attack by Hamas on Oct. 7, has posed political challenges for Biden among his Democratic base.
On Tuesday night, a few dozen pro-Palestinian protesters demonstrated on the street in front of the hotel where Biden stayed in downtown Denver.
Biden last visited Colorado in June, when he delivered a commencement address at the U.S. Air Force Academy.
During his Pueblo visit Wednesday, the CS Wind factory looked as though work had stopped mid-production, with metal tubes — a dozen feet or more in diameter and weighing tons — lying on the floor. On a typical day, it would be a hive of work and a cacophony of warning bells, whirring motors, welding hisses and hammering steel.
Biden went on a tour of the factory before his speech. He asked workers questions about the process for building the giant wind turbines and other work conducted on-site, according to a press pool report.
At one point, he shouted to a worker: “Corey, watch out that entire sucker starts coming back towards you.”
U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper, a Colorado Democrat, predicted the $740 million Inflation Reduction Act’s impact on the country eventually would be likened to President Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal. Hickenlooper proved a key negotiator last year as senators recruited enough votes to pass the bill, which included record climate spending.
“Energy independence begins in places like Pueblo,” Hickenlooper said.
Biden and his allies also extolled the effects of the $1.2 trillion Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, passed in 2021, and other legislation that has invested in high-tech manufacturing.
State Sen. Nick Hinrichsen, a Pueblo Democrat, said the setting Wednesday reflected the historic steel town’s “resiliency and its expertise,” while the investment in the wind tower factory represents “long-term growth and sustainability” for the community.
He sees the area as sitting at a crossroads, since it’s also home to the state’s largest coal-fired power plant, which is preparing to shut down in the next decade. CS Wind’s expansion, he said, moves the community and the state forward.
“We’ve got concerns about (the coal plant) and what replaces that,” Hinrichsen said. “But we’re also providing the energy that will power our state into the future cleanly and renewably.”
Stay up-to-date with Colorado Politics by signing up for our weekly newsletter, The Spot.
