East Palestine residents were angry when Joe Biden claimed that his schedule had been too busy to visit East Palestine as promised. A chemical explosion and spill occurred in a small Ohio town in February. The president has yet to make it to the small community in Ohio seven months after he made the promise.
As we previously reported, Biden was asked about East Palestine by a reporter while he was inspecting the hurricane damage on Florida’s east coast. He responded that he had “not been able” to respond because “there is a lot going on.” ” He said a trip to Asia was more crucial.”
#BREAKING: President Biden says he “hasn’t had the occasion” to go to East Palestine because “there’s a lot going on” & he hasn’t “been able to break.”
He says he considered going to East Palestine this week “but then was reminded I’ve got to go literally around the world.” pic.twitter.com/cirJbh0CiK
— Forbes (@Forbes) September 2, 2023
Biden’s excuses for not working are untrue. He spent most of August on vacation. He was at the house of a billionaire in Lake Tahoe and other places. The majority of his time as president was spent in Delaware.
Residents of the town know this. Some of them discussed Biden’s remarks on Fox News.
Nicole Saphier said, “At this point, I don’t mind if Biden’s here. He’s insulted me.” East Palestine resident Jamie Wallace.
“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 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 resident claimed that she and her children still live in a hotel with Biden, criticizing him for his lack of compassion.
“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.”
Miller said to Saphier there was a reason for Biden not attending. Miller explained to Saphier why Biden won’t be attending.
It would have been relatively easy to appear after a disaster. The president’s team mocks the intelligence of the people and their suffering.
In the end, one can’t help but come to the conclusion that Biden isn’t going because he fears the optics. East Palestine is a majority-Republican area. Apparently, not voting for the “right” person dictates whether the White House cares about you as an American or not. It’s a sad development, and the residents are correct that if Biden does finally show up, it will only appear contrived and forced. The damage is already done.
