By Steve Holland
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Joe Biden on Friday will visit Ohio, where the midterm elections could play a crucial role in determining control of Congress, to promote manufacturing job growth and try to change a Republican narrative that the economy is in turmoil under his watch.
In his fifth trip to the state since taking office in January 2021, Biden will visit United Performance Metals, a metal manufacturer near Cincinnati, to announce an initiative to encourage large companies to adopt an emerging technology known as additive manufacturing, a senior administration official said.
Driven by 3D printing, the technology allows complex shapes to be built up in layers from particles of plastics or metal. It is viewed by the administration as the kind of innovation that will enable U.S. manufacturers to flourish and create jobs.
The initiative, dubbed AM Forward, is a voluntary program in which companies sign a public commitment to increase use of the technology and also rely on small- to medium-sized U.S.-based supply companies.
GE Aviation, Siemens Energy The White House said Biden would also use the visit to call on Congress to pass the Bipartisan Innovation Act, which aims to boost manufacturing in the United States, particularly the production of semiconductor chips. Biden is facing headwinds as he tries to help his fellow Democrats stave off a Republican takeover of the U.S. Congress in the November midterm elections. Inflation is at a 40-year high and gasoline prices are soaring, weighing down Biden’s job approval ratings, and Republicans frequently attack Biden’s handling of the economy. Former President Donald Trump took Ohio in 2016 and 2020 in part because of his appeal to Rust Belt voters tired of seeing jobs disappear. Offering voters an alternative view, Democrats point out that job growth under Biden has been strong, a point the president is likely to underline in his remarks. The White House said he would talk about “building on the 473,000 manufacturing jobs created since he took office – more jobs on average per month than under any other president in the last 50 years.” Biden in recent days has made more overt political remarks as he girds for the next five months of campaigning for the mid-terms. On Wednesday he sharply criticized Trump’s devoted followers, referring to them by the MAGA acronym for Trump’s Make America Great Again slogan. “This MAGA crowd is really the most extreme political organization that’s existed in recent American history,” Biden said at the White House in promoting cuts to deficit spending that he has achieved. Ohio is in the midst of fierce campaigning ahead of the midterms. Trump-backed Republican J.D. Vance won the nomination for a U.S. Senate seat while Democratic incumbent Representative Shontel Brown handily defeated progressive candidate Nina Turner in the U.S. congressional district which includes Cleveland.
(Reporting by Steve Holland and Jarrett Renshaw; Editing by Leslie Adler)
