(FixThisNation.com) – President Biden has been facing a lot of pressure to visit East Palestine, Ohio, where a train derailment led to a toxic chemical spill. Last week, Biden said that he intends on visiting the town. However, so far there is no scheduled trip and there have been no plans for him to visit the area according to administration officials.
A senior official when asked about whether Biden would be visiting the town said that this is something that they would need to discuss but that it is not “something we’ve been agonizing over in real-time.”
In early February the train derailment led to risks to the health of the residents of the town as well as fear over the environmental and economic impact of the derailment in the area. However, Biden has so far not been heavily involved in the case.
Former Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan of Ohio has said that he doesn’t understand how this has happened and that it is “imperative” for Trump to show up and provide more information on what is going on. Ryan had previously unsuccessfully run for the White House in 2020 and the Senate in 2022.
However, Biden’s opponents have been taking the opportunity provided by Biden’s discomfort over the incident.
Former President Donald Trump, who is running for president again in 2024, already visited the site on Feb. 22. During his visit Trump provided bottled water for the residents and criticized the Biden administration for their lack of a response. This potentially gave Trump grounds to further shame Biden if the two face off each other in 2024.
However, the White House has insisted that Biden’s lack of a visit to the area is because he has not wanted to distract the cleanup efforts in the area. However, officials continue to be critical of Biden’s decision to not visit the area which is currently suffering because of the derailment.
Copyright 2023, FixThisNation.com
