COLUMBIA, S.C. -- “Bidenomics” is to thank for bringing hundreds of new clean energy manufacturing jobs to the South Carolina Midlands, President Joe Biden said Thursday, standing inside a West Columbia facility that will begin partnering in the production of solar energy products.
In his first official appearance in South Carolina since 2021, Biden touted his administration’s economic strategy that he says is investing in the middle class and building the economy “from the bottom up,” evidenced by thousands of new manufacturing jobs spreading across the Palmetto State, he said.
“It’s all part of the economic vision for this country. I came into office determined ... to change the economic direction of this country, to move (away from) trickle-down economics and get rid of them for everyone,” Biden said, speaking before a crowd of around 250 people at Flex LTD manufacturing facility in West Columbia. “Our plan is working ... all across America in communities that have been left out and hollowed out.”
Thursday’s presidential visit unveiled a new partnership between Flex and Enphase Energy, a California-based energy technology company, as part of a nationwide tour touting the president’s “Bidenomics” plan to strengthen the economy from the “middle out and bottom up.”
Roughly speaking, the Bidenomics approach is to make federal investments aimed at benefiting the middle class, including investments in infrastructure, job training and efforts to encourage business competition. It’s been presented as a rejection of the “trickle-down” economic strategy Republicans have leaned on in the past.
In West Columbia, Biden lamented the United States’ slide in global leadership when it comes to research and infrastructure while boasting gains made under his tenure, including, he said, 13 million new jobs created since he’s been in office. Those jobs include 800,000 new manufacturing jobs, 14,000 of which the president said have been created in South Carolina.
“Jobs that used to go to Mexico, Romania and China are now coming home to South Carolina,” Biden said.
Enphase Energy, an energy technology company that produces solar equipment, announced it will add six new manufacturing lines in the United States, including two in South Carolina with Austin, Texas-based Flex LTD as its manufacturing partner. Enphase’s partnership with Flex is expected to create some 1,800 jobs nationwide, including up to 600 new jobs in South Carolina, the White House has said.
Biden said the Enphase-Flex partnership is a direct result of his Inflation Reduction Act, which includes federal dollars being invested in domestic energy and clean energy production.
Before Biden spoke, Revathi Advaithi, CEO of Flex, and Badri Kothandaraman, president and CEO of Enphase Energy, spoke about the opportunities and success that would come from the partnership and thanking President Biden for investing in clean energy.
“We are pleased to be part of creating new jobs in the U.S,” Kothandaraman said. “We are fortunate to have a very strong partner like Flex.”
About 250 people sat in the audience, including various business owners, local and state political representatives, Flex and Enphase employees, college students and members of the public.
S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster, a Republican, was not among the attendees at Biden’s speech, but the governor tweeted a statement afterward praising the state’s “booming economy” and its “prominent role on the national political stage.”
“Since January 2017, we’ve announced 82,000 new jobs with $33 billion in new capital investment,” McMaster said. “Our success originates from our people, whose values, faith, patriotism, and work ethic are widely known across the globe.”
Bidenomics has been criticized by Republicans, including South Carolina’s Nikki Haley and Tim Scott, who are vying for the GOP presidential nomination. Haley tweeted Thursday, “South Carolinians are still paying more for gas and groceries than they did before Bidenomics. If Joe Biden really thinks Bidenomics is working, he definitely needs to take a mental competency test.”
Scott tweeted Wednesday, “Tomorrow, Joe Biden will be in South Carolina. I certainly hope he’ll be giving an apology speech for the failure of his Bidenomics. Biden could learn a lesson from the hardworking men and women of SC, who are struggling to put food on the table because of his inflation.”
Christale Spain, South Carolina Democratic Party Chair, emphasized the importance of keeping Biden in the White House during a press call Wednesday in preparation for his visit Thursday. She highlighted some of the economic progress plans Biden had put in place that helped South Carolina while calling out lawmakers such as South Carolina Republican U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson, who voted against them.
“If you want to see that contrast in action, look no further than the South Carolina Republicans running for president,” Spain said during the press call. “Tim Scott and Nikki Haley are more focused on pushing culture wars, advocating for banning abortion nationwide and gutting Social Security and Medicare, than they are on delivering for South Carolina.”
South Carolina Republican Party Chair Drew McKissick questioned whether Biden would take any “real and unscreened questions” regarding inflation and border security during the Thursday visit.
“It will be interesting to see if Biden has anything to say about why inflation continues to rise faster than wages, why the border is still being overrun with illegals, or why his Justice Department has two different standards of justice,” McKissick said in an emailed statement ahead of Biden’s appearance. “Maybe his handlers will let him take some real, unscreened questions while he’s here, but I doubt it. And with his lousy job performance, I can’t blame them.”
