Biden will finally visit East Palestine, Ohio — a year after toxic train derailment
WASHINGTON — Took him long enough.
President Biden committed Wednesday to visit East Palestine, Ohio, next month around the anniversary of a toxic train derailment — after months of awkward dodges from the White House when pressed on why he had not visited.
“In February, President Biden will travel to East Palestine, Ohio, to meet with residents impacted by the Norfolk Southern train derailment and assess the progress that his Administration has helped deliver in coordination with state and local leaders to protect the community and hold Norfolk Southern accountable,” an administration official said.
Former President Donald Trump, who is seeking a rematch against Biden in November, visited and ordered McDonald’s for residents the same month as the accident, while an imposing dark cloud of chemicals wafted over the Rust Belt town.
“Biden has finally decided to visit East Palestine, Ohio, a year late, and only to develop some political credibility because EVERYTHING else he has done has been such a DISASTER,” Trump wrote on social media. “I know those great people, I was there when it counted, and his reception won’t be a warm one.”
The Trump campaign has claimed that the 77-year-old former president first began to widen his lead over the 2024 Republican field after his visit to the area.
One East Palestine resident, local business owner DJ Yokley, slammed Biden’s plan for a belated visit.
“The American people have awakened to realize that the leader of our country did not show up to the greatest catastrophe of 2023. And now he’s going to show up because it is an election year,” Yokley said in a “Fox & Friends” interview Wednesday morning.
“President Trump came and supported us when he didn’t have to … Now it’s, ‘Hey we have to go visit East Palestine because we haven’t done that yet — and check it off the books.'”
Residents of the town about an hour’s drive west of Pittsburgh have reported various health complaints and expressed anxiety about the long-term effects of the disaster, including potentially increased cancer risks, for their community.
The accident was followed by a controlled burn of vinyl chloride after 100,000 gallons of the carcinogen leaked. The chemical can generate toxic highly toxic dioxins when burned.
The Environmental Protection Agency said four other hazardous chemicals leaked during the derailment, including butyl acrylate, ethylhexyl acrylate, ethylene glycol monobutyl ether and isobutylene.
Republicans have repeatedly cited Biden’s delay in visiting East Palestine to criticize him as detached from suffering non-swing-state voters. They have also attacked Biden for not doing more to address fentanyl imports from China that have caused about 200,000 deaths on his watch.
In recent months, Biden and other administration officials have frequently invoked fentanyl, which is increasingly cut into non-opioid drugs, killing unwitting users, and the president said Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed at a November summit to take action to curb exports.
