President Biden told reporters that he has no plans to visit East Palestine, Ohio, and pointed to a “whole video Zoom” that he conducted on the train derailment.
Biden made the comments on Friday evening as he was leaving the White House to go to his Wilmington, Delaware residence.
“Are you planning to travel to East Palestine, Ohio?” a reporter asked.
“At this point, I’m not. I did a whole video, I mean, um, what the hell, on…” Biden said as he struggled to find his next words.
“Zoom?” a reported interjected.
“Zoom!” All I can think of every time I think of Zoom is that song in my generation, ‘Who’s Zooming who?” Biden said.
Biden refuted allegations that his administration isn’t doing enough in its response to the derailment, stating that his administration was on the scene of the derailment shortly after it happened.
“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. 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. 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,” Biden added.
A train with 50 rail cars, 10 of which were carrying vinyl chloride, derailed in East Palestine on Feb. 3. The derailment caused hazardous chemicals to spill onto the ground and sent a plume of smoke into the air.
Days after the derailment, officials conducted a controlled release of chemicals in the days after the derailment because of the major risk of a major explosion which forced residents to evacuate.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Ohio officials said that both the air and water in East Palestine are safe, but residents are reporting various health issues that are extending to both them and their pets.’
Shortly after his comments to reporters, Biden tweeted that he spoke with administration officials earlier “for the latest updates on our response to the train derailment in East Palestine.”
President Biden on X (formerly Twitter): “Earlier, I spoke with @SecretaryPete, @EPAMichaelRegan, @SecBecerra, and @FEMA_Deanne for the latest updates on our response to the train derailment in East Palestine, OH. We remain committed to supporting the people of East Palestine every step of the way. pic.twitter.com/gmUjIxjUA0 / X”
Earlier, I spoke with @SecretaryPete, @EPAMichaelRegan, @SecBecerra, and @FEMA_Deanne for the latest updates on our response to the train derailment in East Palestine, OH. We remain committed to supporting the people of East Palestine every step of the way. pic.twitter.com/gmUjIxjUA0
Biden’s comments come after Pete Buttigieg visited East Palestine on Thursday, nearly three weeks after the derailment happened.
During the visit, Buttigieg was asked if he waited too long to speak out about the derailment.,
“The answer to your question is yes,” he said. “I felt strongly about this and could have expressed that sooner…”Again, I was taking pains to respect the role that I have and the role that I don’t have, but that should not have stopped me from weighing in about how I felt about what was happening to this community.”
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