May 4—On Tuesday, President Joe Biden visited the Lockheed Martin facility in Troy, Ala,. where javelin missiles being used by Ukrainian fighters are manufactured.
“President Biden, your visit here highlights at our facility, the dedicated workforce everything that they’re doing to enhance our national security and protect America’s interests all around the world,” said James Taiclet Jr., the CEO of Lockheed Martin. “For nearly 30 years, the team here has produced some of the most advanced technologies in the world. U.S. military soldiers, sailors, airmen and our allies across the globe depend on the systems we make right here to defend against threats on land, at sea and in the air.”
Biden commented on the bravery of Ukrainian soldiers and civilians who continue to fight in the ongoing war with Russia.
“We see on the news every single day the atrocities and the war crimes that are being committed by Russian forces in Ukraine, directed by Vladimir Putin. and it really is gut-wrenching. We see the incredible bravery of Ukrainian fighters defending their country from everything they have. It’s not just their warriors. It’s not just military. It’s people on the street who stayed behind,” said Biden. “We know that the United States is leading our allies and partners around the world to make sure the courageous Ukrainians, who are fighting for the future of the nation, have the weapons and the capacity and ammunition and equipment to defend themselves against Putin’s brutal war.”
While many celebrated Biden’s visit to Troy, the Alabama GOP believes Biden is not focusing on the correct issues in Alabama.
In a press conference, Republican Chair John Wahl highlighted issues the party believes Biden would be better off focusing on.
“I think his visit completely misses where he should be focusing while he’s here. The Lockheed Martin do a great job. Their facility is world-class, and they get the job done. It’s nice to highlight that, but I think the president should be focused on areas that are broken and that deeply need help today,” said John Wahl, chair of the Alabama Republican Party. “I want him to be visiting the single mother who’s struggling to put food on the table. I want him to visit the middle class. Those families are paying twice what they are in gas today than they were two years ago. He should be talking to seniors on fixed incomes. These are people out there struggling to make ends meet.”
Wahl touched on the impact vaccine mandates have on minority populations, as well as the Biden administration’s border policies.
“I think he should be talking to members of the minority community who may not be comfortable with a COVID-19 vaccine mandate, and yet they’ve had to make the decision whether to live as second class,” said Wahl. “I think he needs to talk to the families who have been affected by his open border policies. People who have lost loved ones directly because of illegal aliens that should not have been here or because of the drugs that are flowing over the border right now.”
“He should be visiting the border. There’s no reason that a sitting president should not be going to the source of so many of the issues that are affecting our culture, whether it’s the drug war or whether it’s crime, and addressing those issues that are affecting both the people of Alabama and the people in this country,” said Wahl.
He went on to say the decisions of policymakers have real-world consequences.
“Bad policy has real-world consequences and I think that is exactly what we’re seeing in America today. We are seeing flawed policy at the highest level, and that policy has affected all those people I mentioned, whether it’s the poor, the downtrodden or minorities, or it’s the average everyday citizen who’s just trying to make ends work,” said Wahl.
Wahl reiterated the ALGOP’s belief that Biden has lost touch with the American people.
“We have issues that are affecting our society and that desperately need to be resolved. But instead, the Biden administration continues their push for the same policies that are destroying our economy, destroying our American values and literally taking us towards this idea of socialism. and I think that’s something that, if the president would get out and speak with normal everyday citizens, he would see how that affects their lives,” said Wahl. “I think the Biden administration has lost touch with the American people. He’s lost touch with the ideas of freedom and liberty. I think he needs to get back. He needs to talk with the average, everyday citizen. The bottom line is extreme Democrat policies are destroying our country and our American way of life.”
The president toured the facility following Republican Gov. Kay Ivey commenting, “We want the last thing Putin ever reads to be ‘Made in Alabama'” in March.
