Biden brings black Wisconsin voters to forefront of campaign with economic victory lap
December 23, 2023 12:38 PM
President Joe Biden highlighted his investment in black-owned small businesses in an appeal to voters of color in the crucial swing state of Wisconsin ahead of the 2024 election.
“Black small businesses with the talent and integrity and ingenuity are the engines and the glue that hold communities together,” said Biden in a video he released Saturday on X, formerly Twitter. The clip was taken from his speech at the Black Chamber of Commerce in Milwaukee on Wednesday.
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I’m working towards a future where every American can turn on the faucet and drink clean water.
My bipartisan infrastructure law and small businesses like Hero Plumbing will take us there. pic.twitter.com/aLsNcq9Mvy
— President Biden (@POTUS) December 23, 2023
Biden’s message focused on the provision of his seminal bipartisan infrastructure law that funds the replacement of all lead pipes in the United States to the tune of $15 billion.
The video spotlights small businessman Rashawn Spivey, master plumber and owner of Hero Plumbing. Spivey’s business has replaced 600 lateral lead pipes across Milwaukee, which would not have been possible without Biden’s investment in the enterprise.
“We help protect the health of the nation,” one employee of Hero Plumbing told Biden in the video clip. “I mean, everybody has to drink water.”
While in Milwaukee, Biden touted that his administration is investing heavily in minority-owned businesses.
“Through the Small Business Administration, we’ve delivered $50 billion in capital this past year to small businesses across the country, doubling the number and value of black-owned small businesses since 2020,” the president said.
Biden, who earned 92% of the black vote across the nation in 2020, has been losing support among black voters in Wisconsin’s largest city, who are an essential voting bloc in the swing state.
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A GenForward survey released this week found that 17% of black voters across the country would rather cast their ballot for former President Donald Trump than incumbent Biden if the election were held today. Another 20% of black voters said they would not support either Trump or Biden.
Black voters are also pretty evenly split on whether or not Biden should run for the office at all, with 49% saying he should “definitely” or “probably” not seek reelection.