Trump commended the bravery of the local workforce and law police.
Alleged that they had been treated with “betrayal” and “indifference” by those in authority
When a train derailed nearby, he delivered gallons of water to the town’s population.
In response to a question regarding East Palestine, Pete Buttigieg flips the script on the reporter.
On his Wednesday visit to the hazardous railway crash site, Donald Trump informed residents of East Palestine that they are victims of “betrayal” at the hands of President Biden and the federal government.
Nineteen days after the accident in Ohio, the former president met with angry crowds and brought in hundreds of bottles of water, cleaning materials, and canned food from his collection.
After that, he went to McDonald’s, where he autographed MAGA caps for the customers and purchased Big Macs for the firefighters and police officers who helped him.
I’m more familiar with this menu than you are. He boasted, “I probably know it better than everyone in here,” to the waitress, before demanding that they “knock it out fast” so he could eat it on the aircraft.
Hundreds of supporters lined the streets with MAGA flags and chanted “no more Joe” as Trump arrived in the village aboard the newly rebuilt Trump Force One plane.
He gave a speech to the local fire station, where he declared, “You are not forgotten.” He lauded the police reaction and the “strength and courage” of the locals.
When asked what message he had for President Biden, Trump responded, “Come over here,” and then he pledged to return if the neighborhood didn’t get support from the White House.
On the same day that Pete Buttigieg said he will visit the scene on Thursday, Norfolk Southern issued a statement declaring they would take “full responsibility” for the incident.
East Palestinians, though, believe that a visit from either Biden or Buttigieg at this time would be mainly pointless.
When asked if Biden should come, 56-year-old East Palestine resident William Hugar said, “It’s a bit too late.” Hugar made the comments while having breakfast at a local cafe and speaking with DailyMail.com.
“Like he can come, but for what?” he probed.
Trump addressed those gathered at the East Palestine Fire Station, “We stand with you. We pray for you. And we’ll be with you in your struggle to help answer and [get] accountability that you deserve.”
“Biden and FEMA declared they would not provide government help to [the town] under any circumstances,” Trump added. “We opened up the dam and we got them to move,” he added, alluding to his trip, which the Biden administration has portrayed as a picture opportunity.
Spectators lined the streets, and some of them yelled “no more Joe” as they waited for the ex-president to arrive.
On his visit, he and Ohio Senator J.D. Vance, a Republican, who has been at the forefront of criticism of the White House’s response to the catastrophe in the town of 4,700, gave out water and other supplies to the locals.
We’ll be bringing in hundreds of bottles of Trump Water. Essentially all of it. We had to resort to lower-quality water for some of it, so be sure to pick up some Trump bottles, he said.
Trump also spoke with Trent Conway, mayor of East Palestine, who called Biden’s covert trip to Ukraine a “slap in the face” to his voters earlier this week.
Republicans are outraged that President Biden hasn’t visited Ohio or sent Pete Buttigieg there to assess the damage and meet with local officials to discuss what the federal government can do to help.
On Thursday, Buttigieg plans to travel there, which is located only 35 minutes from Pittsburgh and is next to Pennsylvania.
He said he didn’t want to come for a photo op, which is what Trump is doing.
Residents were scared for their safety when a Norfolk Southern freight train derailed on February 3 and discharged enormous volumes of dangerous chemicals into the air, water, and ground. Several people said they were experiencing symptoms including headaches.
On February 16, EPA administrator Michael S. Regan visited the derailment site to express gratitude to first responders and assure them that the agency will have “boots on the ground” for the duration of the cleaning operation.
That your voices have been heard. Aware, we observe your presence. The truth about this, he promised, will be uncovered. To feel secure, all families must have the assurance that their loved ones are secure. Clean air and water are basic human rights, and every family should have access to them.
Last week’s controversy over President Biden’s trip to Ukraine and Poland came from Republican members of the party who wanted to know why he visited Eastern Europe instead of tackling problems at home.
After his address in Poland, the president broke his quiet on the issue with a Twitter thread on Tuesday, in which he harshly criticized Russia and President Vladimir Putin. On Tuesday night from Warsaw, Poland, he made five phone calls.
The president mentioned his conversations with Ohio’s Sherrod Brown and Bill Johnson in the Senate and with Pennsylvania’s Josh Shapiro and Ohio’s Mike DeWine in the governor’s office.
‘I reinforced my commitment to making sure they have everything they need,’ Biden said in a thread published to his official Twitter account on Tuesday night.
He mentioned that the EPA had mandated that Norfolk Southern, the train’s owner, and operator, pay for the costs associated with cleaning up the spill and disposing of the hazardous chemicals that were released during the incident.
Just using your brain. They’re the ones that made this disaster. They ought to tidy up, as Biden put it.
As with Trump, Biden pointed the finger at his predecessor, arguing that the policies Trump put in place made it difficult to increase and enforce rail safety.
Biden said that political leaders, “including the previous admin,” had “restricted our ability to install and expand rail safety measures” for many years. To paraphrase one critic: “Hell, many of the political politicians casting fingers right now want to destroy the EPA — the organization that is making sure this clean-up happens.”
To the impacted residents, “I want you to know that we have your support,” Biden said. And I told your governments that they will have everything they need.
But East Palestine’s mayor, Trent Conaway, isn’t sure that Biden is serious about helping his city; he’s “furious” that Biden decided to go to Ukraine this week instead of Ohio.
Conway claims Biden’s visit to the war-torn Eastern European country was an a’slap in the face’ to East Palestine, which is still reeling from the consequences of the devastating 50-car disaster.
Buttigieg, on the other hand, played down the importance of a government representative coming to the scene of the toxic crash to assess the damage and meet with the residents who have been displaced from their homes.
To add insult to injury, he said that Trump’s Wednesday visit to Ohio is nothing more than a picture opportunity for his 2024 presidential campaign.
On November 15th, Trump declared his third candidacy for president. After announcing his candidacy at a rally at his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, he has not participated in many public events.
Smaller campaign events than the customary large Trump rallies were held in New Hampshire and South Carolina last month, where the early primary contest states are located.
The Biden administration has blamed Trump for the disaster but has done nothing to send personnel to the scene, despite popular demands for President Obama to visit the area.
Under Trump’s presidency, various regulations were put into place that had an impact on rail safety. For example, a proposal from Obama’s administration that would have mandated more rapid brakes on trains carrying highly flammable goods was withdrawn. Also, he halted the customary monitoring of train security.
Hours after the train derailment, Biden said, “our staff was on the ground working in lockstep with state and local officials.”
More than 500 residences in the vicinity have been tested so far, he added, and the EPA is “monitoring air and water quality.”
The government has also sent chemical assessment experts from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and emergency response teams from the Federal Disaster Management Agency (FEMA) to the East Bank.
“The Department of Transportation has made plain to train firms that their pattern of fighting safety requirements has got to end,” Biden said in his Twitter thread on Tuesday night.
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Our legislative colleagues in Congress need to get on board with our efforts to improve rail safety.