East Palestine, Ohio, Mayor Trent Conaway said Monday that he invited President Joe Biden to his village nearly a year after a catastrophic train derailment to get answers to lingering health concerns.

“I didn’t have to invite President Trump to come, but I felt that I had to send out a personal invitation to President Biden to come, so we can get some of these answers to some of these lingering health concerns,” Conaway told Fox News’s Sean Hannity.

The citizens of East Palestine have faced great difficulty in the wake of last year’s incident when, on Feb. 3, 2023, a Norfolk Southern freight train derailed.

Around 38 cars, with multiple carrying hazardous materials, burned for several days following the crash.

Hannity pushed Conaway on a statement the mayor had made, where he appeared to deride Biden’s visit as too late, but Conaway said that his village needs to get answers to persistent health concerns.

“Yeah, of course he’s coming late, but, like I said, I have these questions, and I’m a mayor of the whole town, not just the red ones or the blue ones,” Conaway said. “So, against my better judgment, I did write a letter saying, ‘Hey.’”

“We need to get some of these answers for these lingering health questions,” he added. “For the most part, everybody is doing good, you know, it’s coming back to life. We’re getting out of the cleanup phase. We’re getting into the economic development phase and try[ing] to get some lifeblood pumped back into this town.”

Rebuilding its economy is essential to East Palestine’s recovery, especially under the Biden administration, according to Conaway.

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“I did formally invite him,” he said. “I just want to be clear on that, and, before, I did say I don’t know what he would do here when he comes, but hopefully, he can get us some of these answers.”

“He is the sitting president, so we need to get some kind of answers for these people.”