It’s been more than a year since a train carrying hazardous materials derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, and President Joe Biden is coming for a visit. On Friday morning, ahead of that visit, former and potentially future President Donald Trump released an announcement declaring that Biden’s response came “too little, too late.”
The ad emphasized that 378 days had passed and included handouts that had people wondering “why the current president hasn’t visited the country yet,” especially since he has found time to travel around the country and the world. The ad featured footage of Biden not only traveling to Ukraine, but also political events in Pennsylvania and spending one of his many beach vacations.
“In Biden’s absence,” the script says, “Trump emerged.” It goes on to say that Biden’s actions are “Too little, too late, Joe!”
Trump himself visited in tardy February last year, just weeks after the derailment and the day before Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg did. The ad also showed footage of Trump interacting with Mayor Trent R. Conaway and Senator J.D. Vance (R-OH).
The ad also includes a report from NewsNation, as a resident delivered a message to Biden that “you know how little you think of us,” “you’ve already shown us.”
Perhaps most damning of all, the ad ends with footage of one of many moments in which Biden appeared lost at the podium.
TOO LITTLE, TOO LATE! pic.twitter.com/gTaT5rKqCs
— Team Trump (TEXT TRUMP to 88022) (@TeamTrump) February 16, 2024
Republicans running for a U.S. Senate seat in Ohio to challenge vulnerable Democratic incumbent Sherrod Brown also made their views known.
Businessman Bernie Moreno, who received Trump’s endorsement last December, emphasized that the moment had come too tardy. “Joe Biden’s visit to… East Palestine it’s already very late. While this administration and Senate Democrats have focused on providing endless aid to Ukraine while neglecting our own people, the citizens East Palestine We paid that price,” he said in a statement. “I hope Biden’s visit will inspire him to tackle the challenges Americans face every day rather than continue to finance endless wars abroad.”
Earlier on Friday, Moreno he talked with Fox News slams Biden for his ‘much overdue’ visit. He also wasn’t afraid to attack Brown. In a post last September, he criticized the senator, saying he was “too much of a coward to condemn Biden for ignoring the people of East Palestine.” The post also urged Brown to call on Biden to visit and criticized the senator for being “too much of a coward to stand up to Biden” on policy issues.
Sherrod Brown is too much of a coward to call out Biden for ignoring the people of East Palestine.
Like Sherrod, he was too much of a coward to stand up to Biden and stop his reckless trillions in spending, his radical open borders policies, or the extremism of Biden’s Green New Deal. https://t.co/AvmfIJfJHT
— Bernie Moreno (@berniemoreno) September 5, 2023
Moreno he also talked Last year, Breitbart, a few weeks after the derailment, talked about how he made it easier to give a car to a mom who was going to the store to buy bottled water.
Secretary of State Frank LaRose similarly sharply criticized Biden for appearing on Fox Business’ “Varney & Co” for so long. Asked why Biden had delayed his trip for a year, LaRose said there was “no explanation,” adding that “President Trump is right” that “it’s an insult to the people of East Palestine and beyond that it’s too little too late.”
LaRose suggested that Biden’s delayed visit was “another example of unfortunate leadership – the lack of it – from Joe Biden.” He also insisted that “the village doesn’t need a photo shoot or a field trip, it needs help from the federal government,” recalling that “when they needed that help, he was on vacation or visiting Ukraine.”
Discussing the lack of a “pink” reception, LaRose noted that Ohioans “are disappointed in the lack of response from the federal government,” citing local residents’ financial and communication difficulties as examples of “why the president should have stayed there, building those relationships and coordinating that response.” “.
Too little, too late.
I joined @Varneyco to discuss President Biden’s one-year-late visit to East Palestine. Tpic.twitter.com/FblcADVTlH
— Frank LaRose (@FrankLaRose) February 16, 2024
LaRose was also profiled by local news site WKBN and sent X information about his last visits to East Palestine a year after the derailment.
These posts included lessons he learned from the military “that the best leaders are those who listen” and shared stories he heard from local residents while promising to “show up.”
In the army I learned that the best leaders are those who listen.
That’s why I visited East Palestine today to listen to the people and local leaders. I can promise you this, as I serve Ohioans in the U.S. Senate, I will continue to listen to you and work for you. pic.twitter.com/0rktrCBTMS
— Frank LaRose (@FrankLaRose) February 8, 2024
While in East Palestine, I stopped for dinner at Sprinkles on Top.
I met Doris, who lives near where the train derailed. Hearing how she was uprooted from her home was an eye-opener, and her story is similar to many people I have met. As your senator, I will continue to show up… pic.twitter.com/70i8vijU6k
— Frank LaRose (@FrankLaRose) February 8, 2024
State Sen. Matt Dolan, who won Mayor Conaway’s endorsement last year, criticized Biden in a statement to Townhall while praising the mayor.
“Actions speak louder than words, and the fact that Joe Biden’s visit to East Palestine has taken so long is a sad reflection of his priorities,” Dolan said. “It is important that his year-long absence does not distract from the hard work done by Mayor Conaway, local leaders, first responders and many others who have demanded accountability and results for the people of East Palestine. In the U.S. Senate, I will never stop working to build on their progress and deliver results for Columbiana County, the Mahoning Valley and our entire state.”
“East Palestine“This trend that took place on X before Biden’s visit was also brutal for residents common they didn’t even want Biden to come in with the opportunity this provided him. Residents have it too common how they feel forgotten since they are not a blue state.
RNC Research also took the opportunity to recall that instead of going to East Palestine, Biden visited countless other places around the country and the world.
Later today, Biden will finally visit East Palestine, Ohio – 378 days after the toxic train crash.
Here are the places Biden visited instead of East Palestine:
Delaware (x30)
Pennsylvania (x13)
Camp David (x10)
Maryland (x9)
California (x7)
Virginia (x6)
New York (x5)…— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) February 16, 2024
