Dr. Jill Biden's planned visit to Milwaukee and vaccine requirements further politicize the pandemic

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- The announcement of Dr. Jill Biden's upcoming visit to Milwaukee September 15 comes one day after the President announced roughly 100 million Americans will be required to be vaccinated. That announcement has people across the political spectrum weighing in on the legality of the announcement.    

Dr. Biden is scheduled to visit an MPS school while in Milwaukee, though the exact school and schedule has not yet been announced.

Rep. Christine Sinicki is the Interim Chair of the Democratic Party in Milwaukee County. She says, "I never thought I would live to see something like this politicized."

The President's new vaccine requirements are again thrusting science into the political arena as the announcement drew both praise and scorn.

In a statement Friday, Republican Party of Wisconsin Executive Director Mark Jefferson said "Joe Biden’s authoritarian mandate will hurt Wisconsin small business owners and families."

But state Democrats predictably disagree, saying the vaccine requirements are the only way to pull out of the pandemic. Ben Wikler is the Chair of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin. He says, "It's because there's a smaller share of Americans that haven't had the chance or are actively opposed to vaccination, that we're still having to wear masks when we're indoors with other people, and take all these precautionary measures."

Dr. Biden's visit will be her first to Wisconsin in about a year, and state Democratic party leaders say the coronavirus response is getting a lot of attention. Rep. Sinicki says, "We have a governor who has really done a good job in navigating the whole COVID pandemic for the last couple years."

But the Wisconsin Republican Party is calling on the governor to oppose the vaccine plan, asking in a statement if he "will cave to Joe Biden and his un-American mandate that will force Wisconsinites out of work and prevent them from providing for their families."

We reached out to several Republican party officials at the state and local levels but none were available for interviews. We also reached out to MPS to learn more about Dr. Biden's visit, but did not hear back.