|
Biden will visit the Milwaukee Black Chamber of Commerce to
discuss what the White House called a boom in Black-owned small
businesses. He will be joined by Rashawn Spivey, the founder and
owner of Hero Plumbing, a Black-owned small business that
removes lead pipes in Milwaukee.
Biden's visit reflects an effort to bolster support from Black
voters ahead of what his campaign team is expecting to be a
tough battle for re-election.
Biden's victories in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania
and Wisconsin - all swing states that Republican Donald Trump
carried in 2016 - were instrumental in his 2020 victory. He will
likely will need to carry many of those states again to win
re-election.
Black voters have for a long time been the most loyal Democratic
constituency, but some feel disenchanted by the Biden
presidency.
Biden is to announce that the Grow Milwaukee Coalition is one of
22 finalists for a Commerce Department program that would
allocate funds to help create jobs in America's hardest-hit
communities.
The coalition's proposal would invest in revitalizing
Milwaukee's historic 30th Street Industrial Corridor and
connecting the historically segregated Black community to
economic opportunity across the city.
A White House fact sheet said the share of Black households
owning a business has doubled between 2019 and 2022, after
falling between 2007 and 2019.
In Milwaukee alone, new business applications are up 70%, with
Americans having filed a record 15 million applications to start
new businesses nationwide, the fact sheet said.
A Reuters-Ipsos poll published on Dec. 5 found that Biden's
popularity was at 40%, near the lowest level of his presidency,
a sign of the challenges ahead for his re-election bid.
(Reporting by Steve Holland; Editing by Sonali Paul)
[© 2023 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
Copyright 2022 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may
not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.
|
|
