After choosing to campaign in Ukraine over the suffering residents of East Palestine, Ohio, President Joe Biden is once again snubbing the victims of the toxic pollution caused by the train derailment.
The president has revealed that he has no plans to visit East Palestine, trying to excuse his refusal by noting that he had already had a zoom meeting with his team.
As Biden was headed back to his Wilmington, Delaware home for the weekend on Friday evening, he was asked by a reporter whether he had plans to visit East Palestine.
“At this point, I’m not. I did a whole video, I mean, um, what the hell, on…” Biden rambled, struggling to finish his sentence.
“Zoom?” a reporter suggested.
Biden then bizarrely responded: “Zoom! All I can think of every time I think of Zoom is that song in my generation, ‘Who’s Zooming who?”
He went on to try to dismiss his lack of action by arguing that he had already had a long meeting with the team responding to the crisis, and noting that they had gone to East Palestine two hours after the train derailed. Biden also claimed that he had received no “request” to visit the disaster area before he left on his trip to Ukraine.
“Wait, wait, wait, let me answer the question. The answer is that I’ve had a long meeting with my team and what they’re doing,” the president said. “You know, we were there two hours after the train went down. Two hours. I’ve spoken with every single major figure in both Pennsylvania and in Ohio.”
“And so the idea that we’re not engaged is simply not there,” Biden added. “And initially, there was not a request for me to go out before I was heading over to Kyiv. So, I’m keeping very close tabs on it. We’re doing all we can.”
Q: “Are you planning on traveling to East Palestine?”
BIDEN: “At this moment not. I was, I did a whole video, I mean, uh, you know, the uh, what the Hell? On Zoom. All I can hear every time I think of Zoom is that song of my generation, 'Who's Zoomin' Who?'” pic.twitter.com/tFo4zHhEkk
— ALX 🇺🇸 (@alx) February 24, 2023
Meanwhile, there has been heavy criticism for both Biden and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg — with many critics arguing that they don’t appear to care about the suffering residents of East Palestine.
The transportation secretary took roughly three weeks to actually show up to the transportation-related disaster, only arriving after former President Donald Trump had already visited the area to provide water, food and support to residents.
Tens of thousands of pounds of goods, food, water being delivered to the people of East Palestine, Ohio right now before Trump’s visit.
Trump paid for all of it.
Number of goods delivered from the Biden Administration: 0. pic.twitter.com/QQADqZl9Uy
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) February 22, 2023
Biden chose to head to Ukraine in what looked convincingly like a campaign stop rather than a diplomatic visit, providing aid and support to foreigners rather than Americans.
During his visit, Trump condemned Biden’s decision to choose Ukraine over East Palestine.
“I think he should’ve come here. I think he should’ve been here. He should’ve been here, and he chose to go a different route,” the former president said.
Trump, who is running for president in 2024, was seen during his visit speaking with East Palestine residents and buying McDonalds for first responders and firefighters.
Trump just stopped at the local McDonalds in East Palestine to buy lunch for all the Firefighters and First Responders pic.twitter.com/9s4e0MFXZC
— Jack Posobiec 🇺🇸 (@JackPosobiec) February 22, 2023
