Biden's visit to site of Ohio train derailment comes more than a year after toxic disaster
The president is expected to give remarks in East Palestine, Ohio, about efforts to hold Norfolk Southern accountable.
More than a year after a fiery train derailment spilled toxic chemicals in East Palestine, Ohio, and turned the area into an environmental flashpoint, President Joe Biden is scheduled to visit residents Friday amid criticism that he should have done so much sooner.
The official visit comes as the 2024 campaign ramps up and Biden draws renewed taunts from Republican front-runner Donald Trump, who traveled to the community less than three weeks after the derailment. The former president slammed Biden, his likely Democratic opponent, over the issue this week on his social media platform, Truth Social.
“Biden should have gone there a long time ago,” Trump wrote Wednesday. “For him to go now is an insult to those who live and work in East Palestine.”
A day after Trump’s visit last year, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg went to East Palestine.
Last March, Biden told reporters that he’d visit “at some point,” but the trip didn’t materialize. His trip was announced late last month, but an exact date wasn’t specified.
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