President Biden will visit Wisconsin on Wednesday, where he plans to contrast Microsoft’s major investment in the state with Foxconn’s investment in the region that did not materialize during the Trump administration.
Biden is expected to head to Racine to announce a $3.3 billion investment by Microsoft to build a new artificial intelligence data center in the region. The project is expected to create 2,300 construction union jobs and 2,000 permanent jobs over the long term, according to the White House.
The data center will be built on the same land where electronics giant Foxconn announced plans in 2017 to invest $10 billion in a facility that would create thousands of jobs. The Foxconn project was touted at the time as a major victory for the Trump administration, but it never materialized as promised.
Microsoft purchased the land in April 2023 for $50 million.
Biden plans to use Wednesday’s Microsoft announcement to highlight how his administration is focused on boosting domestic manufacturing and related jobs. Biden has visited Syracuse, New York, and Arizona in recent weeks to promote investments from Micron and Intel, respectively.
Additionally, Biden plans to meet with Black voters during another campaign stop in Wisconsin. The campaign said Wednesday’s event will be the first in a series of efforts throughout May aimed at deepening cooperation with groups important to Biden’s coalition.
The Biden campaign also plans to launch a $14 million paid media effort in battleground states focused on reaching Black, Hispanic and Asian American voters.
Wednesday’s visit to Wisconsin was Biden’s fourth this year, underscoring its importance to the election. Biden won the state in 2020 by less than 21,000 votes, but polls show that Biden and former President Trump faced another close race in the Badger State in November.
Mr. Trump leads Mr. Biden by 3 percentage points, according to an average poll from the Wisconsin Decision Desk headquarters.
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