Amid multiple train derailments of trains carrying toxic elements, a pipe bomb that was found on train tracks, fires breaking out in both food facilities and chemical plants, and other disasters, it seems that the federal government would be in high gear investigating those incidents as well as taking care of citizens and communities who are affected by these happenings. But top U.S. officials President Joe Biden and U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg are not jumping in. As a matter of fact, they are absent.
The February 3 East Palestine, Ohio incident resulted in about half of the town’s population being ordered to evacuate.
The EPA originally stated that there was no cause for alarm and that air and water were “safe” but reports of human illness, animals sick and dying, and photos flooding social media showing polluted water sources and even water catching on fire have FEMA rethinking their “no aid” stance, and the government sending scientists in to study the situation, Breitbart reported.
Buttigieg has not visited the transportation disaster, and Biden embarked on a sudden trip out of the country.
But announcing that he would make his way to East Palestine, and who arrived with supplies and encouragement is none other than former President Donald Trump.
Trump visited East Palestine on Wednesday, where he delivered truckloads including thousands of bottles of water and thousands of gallons of cleaning supplies and canned food for the victims.
“President Trump is meeting with the citizens of East Palestine, and he will never forget them and what they are going through. Contrast that with Biden and the federal government, who have failed them from the beginning,” Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung told Breitbart News.
Hundreds of people lined the streets waving MAGA flags and chanting ‘no more Joe’ to greet Trump after he landed in the community on his renovated Trump Force One jet.
The former president greeted crowds furious at the lack of action from the White House.
In a speech at the local fire department he praised the response from law enforcement and the ‘strength and courage’ of the residents and said: ‘You are not forgotten’ and told residents of East Palestine they are victims of ‘betrayal’ by President Biden and the federal government, Daily Mail reported.
‘We stand with you,’ Trump told the crowd at the East Palestine Fire Department, ‘we pray for you, and we’ll stay with you in your fight to help answer and [get] accountability that you deserve ‘Biden and FEMA said they would not send federal aid to [the town] under any circumstances,’ Trump said. ‘We opened up the dam, and we got them to move,’ he said referring to his visit the Biden administration has claimed is a photo op.
He handed out supplies including water to the residents during the visit alongside Republican Senator J.D. Vance of Ohio, who has led the backlash to the White House’s lack of response to the disaster in the town of 4,700.
Trump also met East Palestine Mayor Trent Conway, who said earlier this week that Biden’s secret trip to Ukraine was a ‘slap in the face’ to his constituents.
If Trump’s visit doesn’t get Biden to come to Ohio, he said he would come back to try and force the issues. ‘We’re going to find time to come back, if necessary,’ the 2024 candidate and former president said. ‘If they don’t come back and give you the treatment that you need, we will be back.’ ‘The Biden administration should have ensured that every family has the option of moving … until this thing is straightened out,’ Trump added.
He promised to return if the community didn’t get help from the White House and when a reporter asked what message he had for Biden, Trump said: ‘Get over here’. Trump then stopped at a local McDonald’s where he ordered Big Macs for first responders and members of his team, and handed out signed MAGA hats to the customers.
Interesting timing has Trump’s announced visit to East Palestine coinciding with Norfolk Southern releasing a statement saying they would take ‘full responsibility’ for the derailment and Pete Buttigieg confirming he will now visit the site on Thursday.
But residents of East Palestine feel that a visit at this point from Biden or Buttigieg would be largely useless. ‘It’s a little too late,’ East Palestine resident William Hugar, 56, told DailyMail.com while eating breakfast at a local diner when asked if Biden should visit. ‘Like he can come, but for what?’ he questioned.
John Rourke, the CEO of Blue Line Moving, which transported the pallets of water to East Palestine, told Breitbart News the company moved 13 pallets of water, which comes to over 14,000 bottles for the small town, Breitbart reports.
Rourke had words for the absent government officials: “Joe Biden/Pete Buttigieg stay away! The real President is here taking care of American Citizens. Make sure those Ukrainian pensions are take care of,” Rourke told Breitbart News.
