As pressure mounts on the President to visit East Palestine, Ohio, the site of the toxic train Derailment, Biden explained he has every intention of going.
Yet his administration officials have revealed that the President doesn’t have any trips scheduled, nor has planning begun to put a trip to the affected area on the President’s schedule.
The White House also seems confused about Biden’s plans to visit East Palestine.
Asked about whether or not Biden will go to East Palestine, a White House official said that Admin officials “would talk about” “when or if” the President should visit East Palestine, Ohio.
It’s been more than a month since the Norfolk Southern train derailment on February 3 spilled toxic chemicals that threatened the health and economic future of the town bordering Pennsylvania, the state Biden grew up in and enjoyed touting as giving him a blue-collar foundation.
Biden’s unwillingness to visit East Palestine has baffled past and present officials.
Tim Ryan, a former Democratic Representative from Ohio, explained being “shocked” that Biden hadn’t visited the site, adding that a visit isn’t “hard.”
Ryan, who has been unsuccessful at his Presidential bid in 2020 and Senate bid in 2022, described a visit by Biden as “imperative” to ensure that locals are made aware of the cleanup efforts progress and to guarantee such progress is sustained.
Biden has excused his absence — which came under even greater scrutiny after Presidential candidate Donald Trump visited on February 22 — as his attempt to not distract from the cleanup efforts, an excuse that’s appearing less valid the longer he stays away.
