Former President Donald Trump blasted President Joe Biden during the former's visit to East Palestine, Ohio on Wednesday.
When asked by a reporter what his message was to the president. Trump responded that President Joe should "Get over here."
The former president told Breitbart News that Biden should have been in East Palestine but "choose a different route," referring to Biden's recent travel to Kyiv, Ukraine. "Get over here," Trump said to Biden.
“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,” President Trump told Breitbart News while visiting residents inside a McDonalds in East Palestine.
Just in: The press just asked Trump what is his message for Joe Biden. Presumably Trump responded by saying, “Get over here”pic.twitter.com/9qkfaH2B1U
— The Calvin Coolidge Project (@TheCalvinCooli1) February 22, 2023
East Palestine received a visit from Trump on Wednesday during which he brought several truckloads of water bottles.
However, the small Ohio town had not seen a visit from President Biden or U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg at that time.
A train belonging to Norfolk Southern derailed on February 3, causing a hazardous chemical spill and a subsequent fire.
Ohio officials conducted a controlled burn of five train cars to contain the toxic chemicals, which created a dark smoke plume that was documented in photos shared on social media, raising concerns worldwide.
As a result, almost half of East Palestine's population was evacuated. Although residents have been informed that it is now safe to return home and drink the water, many remain apprehensive.
Although the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has subsequently analyzed the region surrounding the Ohio chemical leak and certified the air quality clean, East Palestine residents continue to report symptoms such as rashes, headaches, and nausea, and many are concerned about their health, as Yale School of Medicine stated.
Unfortunately, the potential short- and long-term health implications of such a chemical leak are difficult to forecast due to a lack of measurable data, according to Andrew Hong, MD, a clinical fellow who researches occupational-related diseases and exposures. According to him, the EPA's air and water quality procedures are too generic to establish which chemicals are present.
“Without quantitative data and specific sampling for various chemicals, it’s hard to say what the exposure level in East Palestine is,” says Hong.
“So, it’s difficult to predict what the potential health risks are long-term—we can’t say it’s safe, but we can’t say there’s a lot of risk either.”