MARINETTE, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – There was excitement in the air before Vice President Mike Pence announced he would not make a scheduled stop at Marinette Marine on Wednesday, opting instead to appear in Washington with President Trump as he announced a permanent ceasefire between Turkey and Kurdish forces in Syria.
The cancellation was announced just hours before Pence was set to take the stage to speak about the importance of skilled labor and the manufacturing industry. Marinette Mayor Steve Genisot says many expected it to be a big day.
“for a community our size, we’re very excited to see the vice president actually come to visit our community to see what we have here. Obviously shipbuilding is a big part of Marinette,” Genisot says. “A little bit disappointing, a lot of planning went into it. But we hope that we’ll have an opportunity to see him in the near future.”
American flags still lined the roads where a motorcade would have traveled Wednesday, and M&M Aviation owner Mark Yankovich says the empty runway looked a bit different prior to the cancellation.
Yankovich says “The terminal was pretty much full of the sheriff’s department, the local police department, the state police and the secret service. And out in the parking lot all of their communication it was a very busy place the last four or five days.”
Pence did make an appearance in Pleasant Prairie later in the day to push for passage of the new US-Mexico-Canada Agreement. The White House has already indicated that the Marinette stop is expected to be rescheduled.
