President Joe Biden flies into East Palestine, Ohio, on Friday to address mounting criticism he has ignored the victims of an explosive fire caused by a train derailment over one year ago.
The long-promised visit will be Biden’s first interaction with voters on the ground since a special counsel’s report last week questioned the mental acuity of the octogenarian president, as Breitbart News reported.
AP reports Biden, 81, goes to the village of 5,000 at the invitation of its mayor and as the Environmental Protection Agency remains engaged in an extensive cleanup paid for by the train company, Norfolk Southern.
Republicans have long blasted Biden for not visiting sooner and there are some enduring tensions in the community with locals angry they have been ignored by the White House.
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Jack Knudsen / Breitbart News
“The president has always said when the time is right and when it made sense for him to go, he would go,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said. “And so, that’s what he’s doing.”
During Biden’s visit, there will be a separate rally for former President Donald Trump, the Republican front-runner. Trump won nearly 72 percent of the vote in Ohio’s Columbiana County, which includes East Palestine, the AP report notes.
Mike Young, the rally’s coordinator, described the grass-roots event as “anti-Biden.” He said he delivered water to the community after the disaster and the president should have been an immediate presence on the ground, something Trump was more than happy to do.
Trump bought food for the police department, fire department, as well as everyone who was in an East Palestine McDonald’s after he delivered remarks at the town’s fire station nearby when he arrived in the days after the accident.
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Alana Mastrangelo / Breitbart News
“The sentiment from residents has been: Where were you a year ago?” Young said, challenging Biden’s absence. “Too little, too late. And now Biden shows up at election time.”
On Thursday, community activists sent Biden a letter that asked him to issue a major disaster declaration for the community, as well as provide long-term health care for residents, increased environmental testing and relocation funding for those who wish to leave.
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