WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) – The White House says President Joe Biden will travel in the next few weeks, to East Palestine, Ohio which is the site of the Norfolk Southern derailment.
The trip comes more than a year after the disaster.
“The president has always said that he would go when it is most helpful to the community,” Karine Jean-Pierre, White House Press Secretary said.
The president is expected to visit the site of the toxic train crash and meet with community members.
“Any time there is a situation that happens in a community, the president says this all the time. He is there for that community for as long as it takes,” Jean-Pierre added.
Ohio Republicans have criticized the White House over President Biden’s decision not to visit East Palestine soon after the derailment.
“What took him so long? And most importantly, what’s actually going to change?” Sen. J.D. Vance, (R-Ohio) said.
Vance praised former president Donald Trump for traveling to East Palestine just weeks after last February’s crash.
“He showed up on the ground. He brought people needed resources,” Vance said.
Vance says the federal government has been too slow to help the people of East Palestine.
“I think the federal government has been way too unresponsive to some of the concerns of the people on the ground.”
The Biden administration defends its response.
The White House says it deployed resources within hours of the derailment and has worked to make sure toxic chemicals are being removed from the water.
