President Joe Biden revealed he had no intentions of visiting East Palestine, Ohio, pointing to a “whole video Zoom” he conducted on the derailed train.
Biden made his comments on Friday (February 24) evening outside the White House as he was leaving for his Wilmington, Delaware home.
A reporter questioned the President’s plans to “travel to East Palestine, Ohio.”
The President responded, “At this point, I’m not,” before stumbling on his words that he had conducted a Zoom about the incident.
Explaining why he wouldn’t make a physical appearance in East Palestine, Ohio, Biden said, “I did a whole video, I mean, um, what the hell, on…” — struggling to find the next words.
A reporter interjected, offering the President some assistance, “Zoom?”
“Zoom!” Biden exclaimed before noting that “all [he] could think of” when he heard Zoom “is that song in [his] generation, ‘Who’s Zooming who?”
The President then defended his administration’s response to accusations they weren’t doing enough in the aftermath of the train derailment, noting that his administration was on the scene days after the incident occurred.
He explained that he had a “long meeting” with his team, adding that they were at the scene within two hours after the derailment. He also revealed he had “spoken with every single major figure in both Pennsylvania and Ohio,” suggesting that the idea his administration isn’t “engaged” is redundant.
Biden also explained that there hadn’t been a request for him to visit the site until after he had traveled to Ukraine, adding that he was “keeping close tabs on it.”
