President Joe Biden accused Republicans of prioritizing corporate profits over manufacturing jobs during a speech in Milwaukee — a week before GOP candidates vying to replace him plan to gather there for their party’s first presidential debate.

“The rationale up to now has been, let’s find the cheapest place in the world to make our product,” Biden said Tuesday in remarks at an Ingeteam Inc. production facility. “Well, we’ve been letting them do that for too damn long,” he added. “It’s time to build American products in America.”

Biden’s visit to battleground Wisconsin is meant to mark the one-year anniversary Wednesday of his signature climate and drug pricing bill, the Inflation Reduction Act. His trip to a state he narrowly won in 2020 before Republican contenders make their debut on the debate stage Aug. 23 signals the significance Biden’s team places on winning Wisconsin again.

The president so far has struggled to parlay the landmark law – which contains hundreds of billions of dollars to fund clean-energy projects and address climate change, while making sweeping changes to health care policies and the tax code – into political success.

“All I hear from my friends on the other side of the aisle is what is wrong in America. There’s a lot wrong with America, like every country. They tell us America is failing. But they’re wrong,” Biden said. “America isn’t failing. America is winning.”

Biden didn’t mention any of his Republican challengers by name, instead citing the policies championed by the state’s Republican senator, Ron Johnson.

Ingeteam produces fast chargers for electric vehicles which are eligible for thousands of dollars of tax breaks under the legislation, and has said its Wisconsin-based facility will add 100 new jobs to meet demand for charging stations generated by the legislation. Separately, Siemens AG is announcing plans Tuesday to manufacture solar inverters in Kenosha County, Wisconsin.

“According to Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs, my plan is leading to a boom — they call it a boom in manufacturing — and manufacturing investment as we’re seeing right here in this factory,” Biden said.

Under the Radar

Still, seven in 10 Americans surveyed in a Washington Post-University of Maryland poll released earlier this month said they had heard little or nothing about the law. Less than a third of those surveyed said they were aware of provisions providing tax credits for heat pumps, solar panels, wind turbines, or the purchase of electric vehicles.

Reversing those trends – particularly in crucial states like Wisconsin – will be key to the president’s reelection prospects. Republican candidates vying for their party’s nomination have hammered the president over inflation rates that spiked in the aftermath of the pandemic, and polling suggests that even as prices ease and unemployment falls, voters remain skeptical of Biden’s handling of the economy.

“Families in Wisconsin and across the country are footing the bill for Biden’s reckless tax-and-spend agenda, and no amount of gaslighting from the White House will change that,” said Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel in a statement. “That’s why next summer, Republicans will nominate the next President of the United States in Milwaukee and send Biden on vacation for good.”

Wisconsin’s unemployment rate is hovering near its lowest level on record, and at 2.5%, ranks among the lowest of U.S. states.

“That’s lower than it was every single month during the prior administration,” Biden said Tuesday.

Similarly, inflation among cities in the Midwest is generally better than the national average. Payrolls have also climbed steadily, surpassing pre-pandemic levels, and the Biden administration says companies have committed over $3 billion in manufacturing and clean energy investments in the state during his presidency.

But the economic opportunity is not spread equally. In some parts of the state, like Eau Claire and Sheboygan, nominal wages are down from a year earlier. If adjusted for inflation, the picture would look even worse.

In Milwaukee, where Biden spoke, wages are up — as is employment. Unemployment has crept up as well, but that’s partly a reflection of a good thing: more people joining the workforce.

Still, a majority of Americans said they believed the economy was getting worse, and just 37% said Biden has done a good job on economic matters, according to a CNN survey released earlier this month. The administration has sought to combat that with a blitz of events that include Biden’s visit to Wisconsin, as well as an event Wednesday at the White House.

Additionally, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen will travel to Las Vegas, and Vice President Kamala Harris will visit Seattle as part of the push to highlight the Inflation Reduction Act’s clean energy tax credits and worker training programs. Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Small Business Administrator Isabel Guzman and senior adviser Mitch Landrieu will also take part in the 10-state blitz.

But the president himself has in recent days expressed regret over the name of the legislation, saying last week the title didn’t draw enough attention to its impact on the overall economy.

Parts of the Inflation Reduction Act have also rankled key union allies ahead of next year’s presidential election. Auto workers have raised concerns subsidies could encourage consumers to buy electric vehicles from companies that threaten union jobs.

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(—With assistance from Reade Pickert, Jordan Fabian, Jennifer Jacobs and Hadriana Lowenkron)

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