Wisc. Republicans who spied Foxconn factory plan, trying to blame democratic governor for debacle

With the fate of the much ballyhooed Foxconn project in Wisconsin up in the air, a flurry of pointing Thursday broke over who should blame for the Taiwanese technology giant's sudden decision to reconsider his plan to employ 1[ads1]3,000 workers for a new factory.

The defense of Republicans who were in charge of the controversial project to shift the onus to Wiscon's newly elected government Tony Evers, was steamed after a Japan-based news organization reported that the company was getting cold feet when the Democrat attempted to renegotiate the deal. The Nikkei Asian Review quoted three non-named sources.

The first shot was fired by the GOP Rep. Sean Duffy from Wisconsin under a look at a Fox Business Network show hosted by Maria Bartiromo.

"Foxconn is under attack in our state because of our new governor," Duffy declared.

"Wow, so you owe it to the new governor?" An apparently surprised Bartiromo replied.

Duffy actually did. He emphasized that Foxconn had not left the project in Mt. Pleasant, Wisconsin, who received $ 4 billion in tax cuts secured by former government Scott Walker, a Republican, was spied on by President Donald Trump as a production job maker.

"Then again this is still in the air for us but if you are Foxconn, you need to consider the politics of our state and what has changed lately, you know, two months," Duffy said.

Bartiromo asked Duffy about Foxconn one day after a top corporate officer pulled out the blanket under Trump and Walker by announcing to Reuters that there are thoughtful plans for the factory employing 13,000 workers. Instead, the company intends to hire mostly engineers and researchers in Wisconsin – and build sophisticated TV screens elsewhere – because it considers American labor too expensive.

"They have not necessarily pulled out, but they have signaled that they will be on the production side," said Duffy about Foxconn. "They bought buildings. They have land to build their facilities, but what has happened in Wisconsin, why is this decision made? Scott Walker lost. The guy who won, Tony Evers in Wisconsin, based this deal from the very beginning, so now you have an unfriendly government in Wisconsin who doesn't want Foxconn there. "

Two other top Republicans in Wisconsin also point out at Evers In a statement, Gop leaders in the state legislature Foxconn's heart change in a constantly changing technology area, saying that it is not "surprising", the company would think of building a factory during the Evers administration, according to The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

The new governor, like many Wisconsin Democrats, actually criticized the Foxconn project as a gift to a company that has a history of reneging on offer and as a political stunt by Walker to help him stay Walker stopped losing Evers.

But Evers spokeswoman Melissa Baldauff refused that the governor made any attempt to change the Foxconn agreement.

"Claiming that Gov. Evers has attempted to negotiate the Foxconn contract is false, "said it. It is unfortunate that the Republicans would rather try to make headlines with political pointers than to work with the governor to protect Wisconsin taxpayers."

Mark Hogan, Secretary and Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. CEO supported Evers. [19659007] "I've been involved in the Foxconn project from day one, and there have never been any offers on the site and the contract is on its own," he said in a statement. to journalists. "In addition, there has been no attempt by either the firm or the Evers or Walker administrations to renegotiate the WEDC contract."

"Gov. Evers and his administration have done a very good job of reaching out to company officials and developing a relationship that will protect our taxpayer's interests while giving Foxconn the opportunity to succeed in Wisconsin, he says.

NBC News reached out to Foxconn for comment but did not return.

"The Republicans in Wisconsin are desperate to blame this on anyone but themselves," said Matthew Rothschild of Wisconsin Democracy Campaign.

The campaign has been critical of the Foxconn project.

"People in Wisconsin knew it was the Republicans who pushed this deal," he said. "And Evers, under both democratic primary and general elections, was cautious about saying Foxconn was a final deal. He was hardly hostile to the company."

After words showed that Foxconn had discussed his plans, a Trump tried officer putting the best face in a seemingly bad situation.

"While encouraging, Foxconn will get 13,000 new jobs and billions of dollars to Wisconsin, we will be disappointed with [any] reductions to the first investment," said official Wednesday.

Walker said on Twitter Wednesday that there are fuses in place in case Foxconn changed the terms of