Residents of East Palestine, Ohio, blasted President Joe Biden Monday for not visiting the location of a February train derailment, saying he “insulted” them by claiming on Saturday that he was too busy to visit the town.
Biden said on Saturday while viewing storm damage in Florida following Hurricane Idalia that he had wanted to go to East Palestine, but that a busy schedule prevented him from doing so, Fox News reported.
“At this point, I don’t even care if Biden comes, he has already insulted us,” East Palestine resident Jamie Wallace told “Fox and Friends” guest host Nicole Saphier.
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“We are here, we are still sick. We do have unmet needs. We need to have representation at this hearing that’s coming up in East Palestine when our politicians they come in they meet with very cherry-picked groupings of the community and it’s not representative of most of us that are still suffering, still in hotels, still relocated,” Wallace said. “I don’t care. This is not a red issue, it’s not a blue issue. This is an issue of human lives and it can happen to every single person watching this that has a railroad track within 30 miles. You know, this is about human lives.”
A train carrying toxic chemicals derailed near East Palestine, Ohio, on Feb. 3, prompting evacuations and shelter-in-place orders as authorities moved to address the release of the chemicals.
Officials warned of a possible “catastrophic blast” on Feb. 6, and carried out a controlled burn of chemicals, the Cincinnati Enquirer reported.
“This guy has actively not shown any compassion or moral value to anything, emotionally, physically, he hasn’t shown up and there has been no help for us economically or with our residents,” East Palestine resident D.J. Yokley said. “It’s really frustrating to see him go and say he is too busy for people that literally put him in the office.”
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East Palestine resident Courtney Miller said she and her kids have been living in a motel since the derailment. “I don’t want to take my kids into something that obviously Biden doesn’t even want to show up,” Miller told Saphier. “So, there’s obviously some reason as to why he is not coming.”
“If he comes now, it will only be because he feels forced to come, which is not going to be genuine. Just get us federal support. Get us help. We are not okay, Wallace said.
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