President Biden visits NC this week. Here’s what we know about the trip so far.
President Joe Biden will visit North Carolina this week, the White House announced Friday.
Biden plans to come to Greensboro on Thursday, to talk about manufacturing efforts.
“On Thursday, April 14, the President will travel to Greensboro, North Carolina, to discuss his administration’s efforts to make more in America, rebuild our supply chains here at home, and bring down costs for the American people as part of Building a Better America.”
No other details have been made public yet, but a source familiar with the visit told McClatchy that he is expected to deliver his remarks from North Carolina A&T University. The Historically Black College and University has the largest student population of any HBCU in the country.
North Carolina landed several major economic development projects in recent months, The News & Observer has reported, including three large manufacturing projects. Two will be in or near Greensboro, where Biden is visiting — an electric car battery factory for Toyota, and a Boom SuperSonic airplane factory.
A third plant, a massive $4 billion electric car factory by a startup company called VinFast, will be between Greensboro and the Triangle, in Chatham County.
Biden previously took partial credit for that VinFast announcement, which is expected to employ thousands of people once it opens in about five years, calling it “the latest example of my economic agenda at work.”
He pointed to work his administration and the Democratic majority in Congress have done to incentivize electric vehicle and battery plants in an effort “to revitalize domestic manufacturing.”
State Republican leaders, however, said they’re the ones who really deserve credit. In addition to taxpayer-funded incentives that VinFast and the others will get if they meet certain goals, they said GOP policies like low taxes help
“This has nothing to do with President Biden’s economic strategy,” GOP Senate leader Phil Berger’s office said in a tweet responding to Biden’s statement on VinFast. “It has everything to do with the Republican-led reforms that resulted in unprecedented economic growth.”
Meanwhile, on Saturday, former Republican President Donald Trump is holding a rally in Johnston County. It’s being held to support U.S. Rep. Ted Budd, who is running in the GOP primary for a U.S. Senate seat against former Republican Gov. Pat McCrory and others.
For more North Carolina government and politics news, listen to the Under the Dome politics podcast from The News & Observer and the NC Insider. You can find it at https://campsite.bio/underthedome or wherever you get your podcasts.
This story was originally published April 8, 2022 at 2:05 PM.
