Wisconsin
President Biden will make first visit to Wisconsin since dropping out of race. He’s coming Sept. 5.
WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden will travel to southwest Wisconsin next Thursday to highlight his administration’s investments in manufacturing and infrastructure — his first visit to the state since dropping out of the presidential race.
A White House spokeswoman declined Wednesday to say where Biden plans to stop in the southwestern part of the state. But an administration official said Biden will highlight his “Investing in America agenda” and how it is “benefiting communities across Wisconsin and ensuring Americans have a brighter, more prosperous future.”
The visit will be Biden’s first to Wisconsin since he withdrew from the presidential race late last month and Vice President Kamala Harris quickly became Democrats’ new nominee. Harris held the first rally of her presidential campaign in West Allis and since visited Eau Claire and Milwaukee for rallies with her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.
Walz will also return to the state next week. He will stop in Milwaukee with Minnesota first lady Gwen Walz on Labor Day, the Harris-Walz campaign said Tuesday. The campaign did not say where the Walzes will speak in Milwaukee or what time they’ll be in the city.
Biden had made at least five visits to the battleground state this year before growing concerns from within his own party about his age and viability forced him to end his campaign. He last campaigned in the state in early July, when he held a rally at Madison’s Sherman Middle School.
Next week’s visit is part of a series of planned trips for Biden over the next several weeks to highlight the Biden-Harris administration’s investments in local communities, the White House official told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. In Wisconsin, Biden plans to talk about the Inflation Reduction Act, a sweeping bill targeting everything from green energy incentives to health care subsidies.
Biden spoke at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago last week and has appeared alongside Harris at other events this month.
Former President Donald Trump’s campaign has also been active in Wisconsin. Ohio Sen. JD Vance, Trump’s running mate, has help press conferences across Wisconsin each of the last three weeks and planned a stop in De Pere Wednesday evening.
Trump will hold a town hall-style event in La Crosse Thursday night that will be moderated by former Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, whom Trump this week named to his transition team.
Hope Karnopp of the Journal Sentinel staff contributed to this report.