Donald Trump on the election campaign in Ohio – the pressure on Biden is growing

Whether it’s a hurricane, a mass shooting, or a train wreck, when a nationally-publicized disaster occurs in the United States, the clock can be set to when the scene of the disaster begins the political showdown—especially at election time.

That’s how it was when the devastating hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast in 2005 and sparked a political debate about racial discrimination in the different treatment of black and white victims. Seven years later, following the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut – the second deadliest school shooting in the country’s history – tightening gun laws became a top political issue in Washington.

So now East Palestine. The almost 5,000-strong village in the east of the US state of Ohio, right on the border with Pennsylvania, is unlikely to have been known to most people until now. That changes abruptly when a freight train derails on February 3 and large quantities of chemicals, some of which are highly toxic, are released into the environment. Houses in the area must be temporarily evacuated. For days, a huge cloud of smoke hangs over the place ().

With the cleanup now in full swing, East Palestine is engulfed by the next toxic cloud: election campaigns.

Donald Trump on campaign appearance after train crash in Ohio

Almost three weeks after the accident, Donald Trump is on the spot. Surrounded by local politicians and his son, Donald Trump Jr., he addresses the assembled citizens and the press at a fire station on Wednesday. “What this community needs now are not excuses, but answers and results,” demands the ex-president with a dig at Joe Biden.

Trump is the benefactor on this day, but not without always emphasizing who is helping whom. The 76-year-old shakes hands and speaks to residents who have had to be evacuated from their homes. For the firefighters, he gets burgers from a nearby McDonald’s and has bottles of water with his name on them distributed. Although the authorities have given the all-clear, many still do not dare to drink from the tap. “We stayed with you, we pray for you and we will stay with you,” Trump promised.

What he’s saying is, ‘Look, I’m here, the President isn’t.’

Trump says he hopes Biden will have some money left after his trip to Ukraine when he comes to East Palestine. A few minutes later he claims that the government only paid attention to the small accident site after he had announced that he was going there himself. In fact, the White House acted promptly after the derailment and dispatched officials from the relevant agencies to East Palestine.

But here in the fire station, Trump hits the mark with his taunts. East Palestine Mayor Trent Conaway calls President Biden’s Ukraine trip a slap in the face. “He doesn’t care about us,” Conaway told Fox News. Biden is “giving millions of dollars to the people over there, not us, I’m angry.”

Republicans gratefully take up Biden’s failure

Hand in hand with the lack of aid money, frustration over the lack of attention from Washington is growing in East Palestine. Since February 3, neither President Biden nor any other key member of his administration has been on site in person. An omission that, in addition to Trump, was gratefully acknowledged by other potential candidates for the 2024 presidential election.

Former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, who entered the race just last week, openly questioned whether Biden shouldn’t be “with the Ohio people.” She had previously refrained from criticizing the President’s trip to Ukraine to mark the anniversary of the Russian invasion. Ex-Vice President Mike Pence, who is also considering running for office, made a similar statement. He was “glad” that Biden went to Ukraine, “but he should have gone to East Palestine first,” the Republican said.

Biden’s Minister of Transport, Pete Buttigieg, also came under the Conservatives’ line of fire due to his absence. “He’s an incompetent [Mann]who is solely focused on his fantasies about his political future and needs to be fired,” Florida Senator Marco Rubio fumed on Twitter. Buttigieg, who is now traveling to East Palestine on Thursday, admitted he should have spoken about the tragedy earlier and promised to have “learned his lesson”.

Biden promises East Palestine: “We stand behind you”

The reaction from the White House was not long in coming. President Biden tweeted Wednesday that he had just spoken to local officials, including Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, to “make sure they have everything they need.” “I want the affected residents to know that we have their backs,” he wrote. He also said his government had instructed the Norfolk Southern railroad company to “pay for the cleanup and disposal of hazardous materials.”

Criticism of crisis management in Ohio had increased in recent weeks. The fact that the civil protection agency Fema had rejected a request from Governor DeWine for the distribution of aid caused great resentment. The Biden government, on the other hand, blames “Norfolk Southern” for the accident. According to the first findings of the traffic safety authority, the cause was an overheated wheel bearing on one of the wagons.

On Twitter, Biden again campaigned for increased safety measures in rail transport and also attacked his predecessor directly: For years, elected officials – including the last administration – had restricted the possibilities to implement and strengthen measures in rail transport, he tweeted. East Palestine is more than a train derailment or a toxic waste accident. “It’s years of resistance to security measures that is now taking its revenge.”

Does he come or does he not come?

Now that he’s back from his trip to Europe, the question arises as to when President Biden will be coming to East Palestine himself. To get an idea of ​​the situation, to comfort the affected residents – and to show that he has the crisis under control. Public perception is as good as everything in such catastrophic events.

Especially since it’s no longer just Republicans who criticize the President’s dealings in East Palestine. The in many respects conservative Democratic Senator Joe Manchin called it “unacceptable” that two weeks had passed before a high-ranking government official showed up at the scene of the accident.

One thing is certain, after Trump’s appearance, the pressure on Biden to fly to Ohio soon will increase. The President’s catch: as soon as he announces a visit, his predecessor will claim credit for it.

Sources: “”, “”, “”, with DPA