LAKE CHARLES, La. —
President Biden made his first stop in a red state to pitch his multitrillion-dollar infrastructure and jobs proposal Thursday, stumping in Louisiana as he seeks to redefine more broadly what it means to win bipartisan support.
With congressional Republicans largely united against his plans, Biden is reaching beyond them to voters for backing. He first went to Lake Charles, in the state’s southwest corner, where he spoke near the aged, overburdened Calcasieu River Bridge.
“I’ve never seen a Republican or a Democratic road. I just see roads,” Biden said. He added, with a dig at his predecessor’s repeated unfulfilled promises to fix public works like the bridge at Lake Charles, “I got so tired of hearing ‘Infrastructure Week.’ Nothing happened.”