Just like he has done with the southern border, President Joe Biden has ghosted East Palestine, Ohio, where a freight train carrying hazardous materials derailed earlier this year. After continuously telling Americans that he would visit the small town, he instead opted to use his 418th vacation day to head to the U.S. Virgin Islands.
The derailment, which occurred on February 3, sent 1.6 million pounds of toxic chemicals into the air, soil, and creeks in the area, gravely affecting the town’s 4,700 residents.
While Biden avoided the area like the plague, it took former President Donald Trump three weeks after the derailment to visit East Palestine. Once there, he delivered truckloads of bottled water to the town.
“President Trump is meeting with the citizens of East Palestine, and he will never forget them and what they are going through. Contrast that with Biden and the federal government, who have failed them from the beginning,” Trump spokesman Steven Cheung told Breitbart News.
Trump to East Palestine, Ohio residents: "You are not forgotten … We stand with you" pic.twitter.com/kHy7VqqnBI
— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) February 22, 2023
“I haven’t had the occasion to go to East Palestine. There’s a lot going on here, and I just haven’t been able to break,” Biden said in a Flordia press conference back in September.
Biden’s refusal to visit East Palestine is also a slap in the face to women like Jessica Conrad, who voted for him in 2020.
“I feel like I don’t matter,” she said. Conrad stated that she felt shocked when he flew past her town in September to join picketing union workers in Michigan.
"I feel like I don't matter." Months after a train derailed and spilled thousands of gallons of toxic chemicals in East Palestine, Ohio, many residents feel disrespected by President Biden's absence. The White House insists that he still plans to visit. https://t.co/b19BX9hCb5
— The New York Times (@nytimes) December 28, 2023
“The president continues to oversee a robust recovery effort to support the people of East Palestine, and he will visit when it is most helpful for the community,” Jeremy M. Edwards, a White House spokesman said.
It’s hard to believe that any member of the Biden administration can keep a straight face while insisting that the president will visit the area. It’s been ten months since the incident and many who had faith in the president visiting have lost hope.
“I believe that it is political for him,” said Krissy Ferguson, who lives within a mile of where the train derailing occurred.
“I believe that if we were in a blue area, he would have come, and that hurts,” Ferguson said.
During the 2020 election, Trump won the county with more than 70% of the votes.
