President Joe Biden arrives to speak at Tioga Marine Terminal, Friday, Oct. 13, 2023, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Joe Biden has postponed a trip to Colorado Monday to stay in Washington and focus on the growing conflict in the Middle East.
Biden had been heading to the Colorado congressional district of Rep. Lauren Boebert, where he was to visit CS wind, the world’s largest facility for wind tower manufacturing.
Instead, Biden is expected to hold a series of high-level meetings with aides on Israel and the growing humanitarian concerns in Gaza, as he weighs a decision to visit the region in a powerful symbol of support for Israel following the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas that killed more than 1,400 people including at least 30 U.S. citizens.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Joe Biden is visiting the Colorado congressional district of Rep. Lauren Boebert, a combative Trump loyalist, on Monday as he draws a sharper contrast between the Democratic and Republican economic agendas.
Boebert has described Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, the president’s signature domestic legislation and the source of hundreds of billions of dollars for clean energy incentives, as “a massive failure” that “needs to be repealed.”
But Biden is out to demonstrate otherwise when he visits CS Wind, the world’s largest facility for wind tower manufacturing, in the town of Pueblo. The company is undergoing a $200 million expansion that is expected to create 850 jobs by 2026 with help from the tax incentives in the law.
Pueblo is one of the anchors of Colorado’s sprawling Third Congressional District, which covers more ground than the state of Pennsylvania. Boebert won her seat in 2020 and barely held on to it during the 2022 midterms.
Biden’s trip comes at a moment of maximum chaos for House Republicans, who ousted Rep. Kevin McCarthy as their speaker but have been unable to settle on a replacement. Rep. Jim Jordan, a prominent ally of Donald Trump, is the current leading candidate to replace McCarthy, but victory for him is uncertain.
Despite low unemployment and slowing inflation, Biden has been struggling to convince Americans that his policies are good for the U.S. economy.
An August poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research said just 36% of U.S. adults approve of Biden’s handling of the economy, roughly where his numbers have stood for a year and a half.
The president and other top administration officials have been traveling the country to promote their “Investing in America” agenda. Last week, the president visited a marine terminal in Philadelphia, where he announced that the area would become one of seven regional hubs for producing and delivering hydrogen fuel.
“I truly believe this country is about to take off, for the first time in a long time we’re actually investing in America,” Biden said.
