Swing-state fight takes turn
MARINETTE - President Donald Trump heaped praise on workers at Fincantieri Marinette Marine on Thursday and touted a $5.5 billion Navy contract awarded to the shipbuilder as he ramps up a reelection bid in which Wisconsin is expected to be a major focus.
The president also used his visit to a key battleground state to blast Democrats and dampen concerns about the coronavirus pandemic.
“As long as I’m your president, America will never lose that ship-building talent or capability,” Trump said in front of the future USS Cooperstown.
Trump devoted much of his speech to a Navy contract awarded to Fincantieri last month that enables the company to build the service’s new guided missile frigate, with options for up to 10 ships, and create 1,000 more jobs in the region. He promised additional investment in the Marinette shipyard and boasted about the advanced design of the vessel they’ll build.
“It’s like a yacht with missiles on it,” he said.
Trump toured Fincantieri before delivering remarks to an estimated 700 people, mostly employees. Before traveling to Marinette, the president taped a one-hour town hall on the election and police reform with Fox News host Sean Hannity at Green Bay Austin Straubel International Airport that was to air on television at 8 p.m. Thursday.
Thursday’s trip to northeastern Wisconsin comes as Trump begins in earnest his campaign against former Vice President Joe Biden, who secured the Democratic nomination earlier this month and is polling ahead of Trump in Wisconsin.
It’s the second event this week aimed at shoring up enthusiasm in areas that Trump needs to win decisively to carry the state. Vice President Mike Pence visited predominately Republican Waukesha County Tuesday and discussed school choice, religious faith and security with supporters.
Before shifting his focus to the shipyard, Trump repeated a claim that the United States is seeing an increase in COVID-19 cases due to more testing. His statement came after health officials labeled Wisconsin’s COVID-19 activity as “high” while cases increase despite leveled-off testing.
“If we didn’t test, we wouldn’t have cases,” Trump said. “We have cases because we test. Deaths are down. We have one of the lowest mortality rates.”
According to Johns Hopkins University, the United States has a mortality rate of about 37 per 100,000 residents — less than countries like the United Kingdom and Spain, but higher than over 100 others.
The president never identified his election opponent in Thursday’s speech but said U.S. Democrats are the “toughest nation” he deals with in his job — not China or North Korea.
“They’re far more unreasonable, and actually they’re a little crazy,” he said.
‘This doesn’t happen in Marinette’
Trump’s visit to Marinette and Fincantieri was the first by a sitting president, local officials said.
Supporters began lining Main Street by 11 a.m. to catch a glimpse of the president’s motorcade, though Trump himself arrived in Marinette by helicopter. Members of the Marinette County Democratic Party also sat outside, surrounded by yard signs for Democratic candidates, including “JOE” in big, blue letters.
Alyssa Villers said Trump’s visit shows he’s concerned about the “little dogs.” Her children, ages 11 and 8, met Pence during his visit last year and were excited to see Trump, too.
“Our lives actually matter,” Villers said. “That’s what he’s showing today and showing the kids he’s a stable individual and acting as an adult and taking care of problems.”
Self-described die-hard Trump fans Randy and Julie Niemojuski of Marinette arrived outside a Main Street laundromat around noon to make sure they got a good spot.
“I wouldn’t miss this for the world,” Randy Niemojuski said. “It’s the first time a sitting president has been here. It’s history.”
“This doesn’t happen in Marinette,” Julie Niemojuski said.
Amanda Lovett said she and her husband, Chris, arrived at the same laundromat around 11 a.m. to find a place to sit. They said they wanted to show their support for Trump, whom they respect for speaking his mind.
The couple brought with them a Trump flag and a sign for their kids to hold asking Trump for a picture to “make my Maw Maw jealous.”
“We’re kind of a small town; this doesn’t happen often,” Chris Lovett said.
Brothers Dan and Greg Pearson made the journey from Milwaukee and Illinois to Marinette, the area where they grew up, for Trump’s rally. They parked outside Mickey-Lu-Bar-B-Q, a Trump flag flying from the rear of the pickup cab, where some passing motorists honked in support.
They said the $5.5 billion contract Fincantieri Marinette Marine received will continue to help the city and region continue to rebuild and grow.
“Marinette Marine went through some tough times and, as they started to land more contracts, it brought a lot of jobs in,” Dan Pearson said. “Like a lot of small towns, factory jobs were being lost. It’s nice to see the jobs back, things picking up and a lot of buildings that used to be boarded up open again.”
Greg Pearson said the importance of the contract to the community can’t be overstated.
“As long as I can remember they’ve built ships,” he said. “The difference with this contract is it’s going to bring another 1,000 jobs. It’s a major contract. That’s huge. It’ll probably be long-term people. We talked to our friends. They’d bring welders in temporarily, but this brings some people in permanently and gets more things rolling.”
Trump brought on stage Tyler Cahill, a U.S. Navy veteran and Marinette native, who told the crowd none of the growth and prosperity he sees in his hometown would be happening without the littoral combat ship and future guided missile frigate contracts. Cahill has worked at Fincantieri Marinette Marine since 2012 and has risen to the role of quality technical coordinator at the shipyard.
Cahill said friends are opening businesses and new people are moving into the Marinette area.
“I never imagined how far my career and community would grow. The shipyard is a lifeline to the community and a major driver of economic growth,” Cahill said.
Democrats condemn Trump for taking ‘victory lap’
Biden and other Democrats criticized Trump for using his Marinette trip to take credit for a contract that was years in the making.
In a statement to the Green Bay Press-Gazette, the presumptive Democratic
nominee accused the president of taking credit for investment in Marinette’s shipbuilding that was initiated by President Barack Obama’s administration.
“Today, Donald Trump is in Marinette to take credit for Obama-Biden Administration-fueled successes in an attempt to paper over the fact that Wisconsin has been bleeding blue-collar manufacturing jobs over the past few weeks,” Biden said. “Instead of offering real relief to working families, he’s trying to claim credit for progress in Marinette he did not build.”
In a conference call Wednesday, Democratic state Sen. Dave Hansen, who represents Green Bay and portions of Brown, Oconto and Marinette counties, said the contract came together with the help of Republicans and Democrats in state and federal government.
“Let’s give everybody credit ... it’s about all of us working together to make this happen because this is essential to Marinette for their economic well-being,” he said.
Fincantieri is already hiring and has held initial meetings with the Navy, said Eric Dent, director of communications for the company’s marine division.
“We’ve already started the detailed design work aspect of the frigate,” Dent said. “We’ve been hiring, bringing on up to 1,000 people. Most of them will be in Marinette, but some will be in Green Bay and Sturgeon Bay.”
The new jobs will be in addition to the 1,500 Fincantieri workers currently building littoral combat ships for the Navy.
Dent said the contract for the guided missile frigate, which has yet to be named, will have a major economic impact on the region. He attributed the award to strong support from state and local leaders from both parties.
“This contract is a huge win for our company, for the region and for the entire state of Wisconsin,” Dent said. “This was a very technical, scored process. Without bipartisan support from state leaders, we would not have been in a position to compete.”