Ohio train derailment: Pence slams Biden for not visiting East Palestine
Misty Severi
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Former Vice President Mike Pence chided President Joe Biden on Wednesday for not visiting East Palestine, Ohio, in the wake of a toxic train derailment that occurred earlier this month.
Pence claimed that Biden failed people in Ohio when he went to Ukraine instead of the Midwest this week and that Biden should have visited the state by now. Biden made a surprise to Kyiv on Monday during a planned trip to Europe ahead of the country’s one-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion.
OHIO TRAIN DERAILMENT: TRUMP HAS A MESSAGE FOR BIDEN FROM EAST PALESTINE — ‘GET OVER HERE’
“It really is remarkable when you think about the fact that it’s going to be three weeks since that train derailment and all the hardship that those families in East Palestine have faced before,” Pence told Fox News host Martha MacCallum. “This is one more example of ‘absent without leadership’ in the Biden administration.”
He continued, “The truth is, Biden’s policies on this economy derailed the economy of East Palestine long before that train came through — I mean, this is coal country in eastern Ohio, Martha, and the record inflation that people have faced, the war on energy people have faced, has presented an incredible hardship.”
Nearly 50 cars on a train carrying toxic chemicals derailed in the small Ohio town on Feb. 3, forcing thousands to evacuate. Neither Biden nor Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg has visited the area in the weeks since, but Buttigieg is expected to visit the site on Thursday.
Pence later admitted that it was a good thing that the president visited Ukraine but claimed that Ohio should have come first.
Former President Donald Trump also slammed Biden for not visiting the town during a visit to the state on Wednesday. Trump told the president to “get over here” after residents asked Trump if he had a message for Biden.
“When I announced I was coming, they changed their tune,” Trump said in brief remarks. “We opened up the dam and got them to move.”
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The Department of Transportation is now leading an investigation into Norfolk Southern, the company running the derailed train. The Environmental Protection Agency also announced Tuesday night that Norfolk Southern had agreed to cover the full cost of the cleanup and toxic material disposal.