Here’s the bottom line on the East Palestine, Ohio horror so far: The White House (and national Dems in general) don’t care about what happens to average Americans.
How else to explain the bizarre, discombobulated response from President Joe Biden and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg on down?
On Feb. 3, a massive train carrying hazardous chemicals derailed and spilled its toxic contents. The feds then set the spills afire in a controlled burn that sent an ominous black plume of smoke towering above the town, terrifying residents already shaken by the potential health risks.
The president and his transportation secretary could’ve shown real leadership (and minted political capital at zero cost!) simply by owning the situation, committing to reforms and then helping out in a highly visible way.
Instead, Biden and Buttigieg have been flipping those pathetic flyover rubes a massive bird.
The White House, for example, turned down East Palestine’s FEMA request, implying the disaster wasn’t quite big enough. But Team Biden also somehow at the same time deemed it too big: “What East Palestine needs is much more expansive than what FEMA can provide,” said an administration official.
Bizarrely, the slapdown comes after Biden reportedly told Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine the feds would give “anything you need” to help.
Adding to the mixed messaging, whoever runs the “President Biden” Twitter account bragged “our kids will breathe cleaner air” and “drink safer water” even as Ohioans gulped bottled water and suffered acrid, chemical stenches.
Meanwhile, a second train carrying hazardous materials derailed in Michigan. This time, thank God, there seems to have been no contamination. A White House flack announced that Biden is “satisfied” with the federal handling of our train issues and has “confidence” in Secretary Buttigieg.
Follow The Post’s coverage of the Ohio train derailment
- Buttigieg mocked for flaunting trendy boots at Ohio train wreck: ‘Not shocked at all’
- Frightened Ohio residents grill train CEO over health concerns: ‘I don’t feel safe’
- Ohio residents report shocking illnesses after toxic train derailment
Buttigieg, the guy in charge of our transport infrastructure, has just been AWOL. In the days immediately after the Ohio disaster, he avoided the subject but found time to complain to the press that there are too many white construction workers.
Finally shamed into saying something more than a week after the Ohio nightmare, he offered vague platitudes about the tiny town terrorized by an event that falls directly within his purview, blamed Trump (!!!) and said nothing meaningful about the efforts his department will make to prevent it from happening again.
They might as well hire skywriters, at this point: Democrats don’t care.
It’s just as true on the bigger stories as well: Team Joe gave the nation a year of happy “transitory” talk as inflation started to soar in 2021; as crime skyrockets around the country, they keep up their hollow chants about equity.
These self-anointed tribunes of the people, in other words, seem stone-deaf to what’s actually on the minds of voters they rep.
The East Palestine travesty proves it. The louder they shout about the little guy, the less Dems will actually do for him.