In S.C., Biden highlights gains in factory jobs
WEST COLUMBIA, S.C. — Making his case for 2024, President Biden declared in deep-red South Carolina on Thursday that Republican-led states are gaining factory jobs because of economic measures he pushed through Congress despite stiff GOP opposition.
In a nod toward next year’s elections, Biden argued that government investments in computer chips, batteries, and electric vehicles will help the United States out-compete China and that his agenda has delivered in ways that former president Donald Trump could not.
“I didn’t get much help from the other team, but that didn’t stop us from getting it done,” the president said, speaking in a state that he lost by nearly 12 percentage points in 2020. “Every Republican member of Congress voted against the Inflation Reduction Act.”
White House officials maintain that if Republicans had their way, South Carolina, like many other Republican-controlled states, would have lost out on billions of dollars in investments and thousands of jobs.
However, GOP lawmakers counter that Biden’s initiatives have fueled higher inflation and thus have left people worse off.
Biden’s visit showcased a new clean energy manufacturing partnership between solar firm Enphase Energy and manufacturer Flex Ltd. that is projected to create 600 jobs in the state and 1,200 more throughout the country. Enphase, which is making a $60 million investment to open six new manufacturing lines, including two in South Carolina, is benefiting from tax incentives included in Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act that passed last August.
The trip also showed an increasing partnership between the administration and technology companies. These relationships complicate GOP criticism that Democratic policies have hurt businesses, as some corporate leaders say that White House initiatives are helping them.