White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Tuesday urged President Joe Biden to visit the city of East Palestine, Ohio, despite the fact that more than seven months had passed since it became the place of a railway disaster.
While mapping damage in Florida from Hurricane Idalia on Saturday, the president was asked why he seemingly turned down a visit to the Ohio city.
“Well, I haven’t had the opportunity to go to Eastern Palestine yet. There’s a lot going on here, and I just can’t break it,” Biden said from Live Oak, Florida.
At Tuesday’s press conference, Fox News’ Peter Doocy asked if Biden hadn’t been on a break since Feb. 3, the date of the derailment of a Norfolk Southern freight train and subsequent dangerous chemical spill.
“The president will go to eastern Palestine. He promised he would, and he will,’ Jean-Pierre replied.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Tuesday urged President Joe Biden to visit the city of East Palestine, Ohio, despite the fact that more than seven months have passed since it took the place became of a railway disaster.
“I just haven’t managed to break,” President Joe Biden said Saturday when asked why he hadn’t visited eastern Palestine, Ohio, yet. He spent part of August vacationing at Rehoboth Beach (pictured) and Lake Tahoe
Federal officials were immediately on the scene, but it took 20 days for Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg to visit eastern Palestine, and Biden never planned a trip.
In an attempt to show a contrast, former President Donald Trump flew to Ohio the day before Buttigieg’s appearance.
On Tuesday, Doocy continued by asking if Biden’s recent family vacation to Lake Tahoe wasn’t considered a “break.”
“I say this again: the president is going to eastern Palestine, as he has promised to do,” said Jean-Pierre.
Biden spent part of August vacationing in Lake Tahoe and at his home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.
“I was thinking about going to East Palestine this week, but then I was reminded that I literally have to go around the world. I’m going from — from Washington to India to Vietnam to — and so, it would be a while,” Biden said from Florida.
“But we are making sure that eastern Palestine gets what they need materially to deal with their problems,” the president added.
President Joe Biden was asked Saturday why he never visited eastern Palestine, Ohio. He was mapping the damage from Hurricane Idalia in Live Oak, Florida
He shortened a Labor Day weekend getaway to Rehoboth Beach with his Saturday trip to Florida.
“You saw him visit a rural area last Saturday that was devastated, some parts were devastated, by Hurricane Idalia, and he was there with the first lady. They could listen directly to the American people and he could talk about what they need and what else they need from the federal government,” said Jean-Pierre.
“The president is going to East Palestine, I don’t have a time or date to announce at the moment, but he will go,” added Jean-Pierre.
Residents of the city of Ohio interviewed by News Nation expressed anger in recent days that they never received a presidential visit.
“The only difference between eastern Palestine and a hurricane is that the hurricane never left from above us, it’s still there seven months later, it’s just invisible,” said resident Jamie Wallace. “You can’t see the houses it destroyed, which are full of chemicals that people can’t live in.”
“If he doesn’t care enough about American citizens to come here and visit us, give us the support we need,” Wallace added.
Wallace also said that maybe Biden should just skip the visit.
Monday marked seven months and one day since the East Palestine, Ohio train disaster and President Joe Biden has yet to make a trip to the city
“You know, right now I think it’s pointless to come,” she said.
“Just give us the federal aid we need,” she told News Nation. “You’ve already shown us how little you think of us, so coming now would only add to the insult, because we know he’d be forced to come here.”
Resident Tammy Tsai noted how Biden was “at his homes in Rehoboth and Wilmington and Lake Tahoe to relax and have family time,” calling his criticism of eastern Palestine “reprehensible.”
‘He should have been here. He should help these people. He needs to learn how to pronounce the name of the city,’ Tsai said.
When Biden was asked about Eastern Palestine on Saturday, he pronounced it “-stein” and not “-steen.”
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