More than a year after a toxic train derailment rattled the small community, President Joe Biden is making his highly anticipated trip to East Palestine, Ohio.
But with East Palestine’s Columbiana County being reliably Republican, Biden’s response has been criticized amid his promise to be a president for all of America.
Biden taking a year to travel to East Palestine is “surprising” and has provided Republicans with the opportunity to scrutinize him and his administration as residents continue to have concerns regarding their water, air, health, even property prices, according to University of Akron political science professor and Applied Politics Program Director David Cohen.
“One responsibility of modern presidents is that they be consoler in chief, to speak to the American public during times of crisis and/or physically visit places where tragedies or disasters have occurred in order to show understanding and empathy to people who have been affected,” Cohen told the Washington Examiner. “The perceived delayed response by President Biden makes his role as consoler in chief less credible.”
“Critics also point to the fact that a presidential disaster declaration has yet to be issued despite bipartisan support for doing so and Gov. Mike DeWine’s (R-OH) request last year,” he said of East Palestine not falling under the Federal Emergency Management Agency‘s criteria. “The federal government has been working diligently on the response and recovery efforts, and President Biden issued an executive order appointing a federal disaster recovery coordinator to oversee those efforts, but his perceived lack of attention has overshadowed those efforts.”
Regardless of Biden’s broader perception problem, his trip to East Palestine is unlikely to improve his popularity, “at least on the Ohio side of the border,” per Cohen.
“Columbiana County is very conservative, and Ohio is not a battleground state in 2024 and will likely go for Trump if he is the GOP nominee,” he added. “East Palestine is very close to the Pennsylvania border though, so perhaps there will be some ripple effects there.”
To that end, former President Donald Trump, who traveled to East Palestine last year, undercut Biden for the trip, underscoring that it coincided with an election year and November’s likely rematch between the incumbent and his immediate predecessor. Trump won Ohio in 2020 with 53% of the vote to Biden’s 45%, but results were reversed in Pennsylvania, 50% to 49%, with only 81,000 ballots separating the pair.
“It was such a great honor to be with the people of East Palestine immediately after the tragic event took place,” Trump wrote on social media Thursday. “I got to know so many of the people, in particular the wonderful mayor, Trent Conaway.”
“Biden should have gone there a long time ago — for him to go now is an insult to those who live and work in East Palestine, and the Great State of Ohio itself,” he said. “I can’t believe anyone wants him there? I know he doesn’t want to be there, and even he knows he is making a mistake because he is pandering to people who are smart, politically savvy and, unfortunately, badly hurt by Biden’s inactions and lack of caring. It will be so interesting to see how they meet and greet this FRAUD, and the THUGS that surround him!”
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre repeated that Biden was traveling to East Palestine at the invitation of Mayor Trent Conaway, who last year condemned the president for visiting Ukraine on the first anniversary of Russia‘s invasion instead of his town. Conway described Biden’s decision to Fox News as “the biggest slap in the face,” contending that the president “doesn’t care about us” and he was “furious” because of that.
“The president has always said when the time is right and when it made sense for him to go, he would go. And so, that’s what he’s doing,” Jean-Pierre told reporters Wednesday. “He’s going to be on the ground. He’s going to get a briefing on what’s happening. He’s going to hear directly from the people of Palestine. And obviously, this administration is continuing to make sure that Norfolk Southern [Railway] is held accountable, and we want to make sure that we support the community as it moves forward.”
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“They have said they do not want to be defined; the community does not want to be defined by this one event,” she said. “We’ve had those key important agencies — FEMA, including [the Department of Transportation] and others, and [Environmental Protection Agency], obviously — on the ground since day one making sure that the community has what it needs. And we’re going to obviously continue to call on Congress to pass the Bipartisan Railway Safety Act.”
On Feb. 3, 2023, 50-plus Norfolk Southern freight train carriages, several of which were carrying hazardous materials, left the track and burned for days as chemicals affected nearby soil and local waterways. FEMA, the EPA, and their Ohio counterparts have defended their response, though residents continue to have concerns, particularly related to their health. Federal and state officials are hoping Norfolk Southern will agree to a damage settlement or compensation package soon.