By Nandita Bose
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Joe Biden is traveling to Wisconsin on Wednesday to speak about his bipartisan infrastructure law and how it will help build roads and bridges and deliver for the battleground state.
On Tuesday, Biden delivered his first State of the Union speech dominated by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. He assailed Russian President Vladimir Putin, barred Russian flights from American airspace and led Democratic and Republican lawmakers in a rare display of unity.
Asked if Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy should leave Ukraine or stay out, Biden told reporters on Wednesday morning, “I think it’s his judgment to make.” Biden also said banning oil and gas imports from Russia is not off the table.
In Wisconsin, he will visit the city of Superior along with first lady Jill Biden.
The U.S. midterm elections are a few months away and Democrats believe chances are slim they will retain a narrow majority in both houses of Congress. All 435 members of the House are up for reelection in 2022, as are one-third of the members of the U.S. Senate, including Democrats in competitive districts in Arizona, Georgia and Nevada.
Wisconsin is one of the states that have swung between voting for Republicans and Democrats for president.
Less than half of Americans approve of Biden, according to the latest Reuters/Ipsos poll.
The national opinion poll, conducted Feb. 28-March 1, found that 43% of U.S. adults approved of Biden’s performance in office while 54% disapproved and the rest were not sure. The president’s approval numbers have hovered below 50% since August.
(Reporting by Nandita Bose in Washington; editing by Jonathan Oatis)
