(East Palestine) Joe Biden visited East Palestine on Friday, a small town in Ohio, the site a year ago of a major rail freight accident which had generated heated controversy around the absence of the Democratic president .
Arriving on land acquired from his predecessor and opponent Donald Trump, Joe Biden was greeted by a demonstration upon his arrival in East Palestine, a small town in this state in the north of the United States.
Several demonstrators brandished posters criticizing the management of the Biden government or even pro-Trump signs, the former Republican president being, like his successor, a candidate for the presidential election in November.
Republican residents and elected officials criticize Joe Biden for not having made the trip sooner.
More than a year ago, on February 3, 2023, a Norfolk Southern train carrying vinyl chloride, a carcinogenic and highly flammable chemical used in the manufacture of plastic, derailed in East Palestine.
The derailment caused a huge fire and some 2,000 evacuations.
This accident “could have been 100% preventable,” Joe Biden said during his visit, accusing the railway company of not having respected safety standards out of “greed”.
Since the derailment, residents of the small town have complained of air and water pollution resulting from this accident.
Former President Donald Trump visited East Palestine shortly after the accident and accused his successor’s administration of having abandoned the residents of East Palestine, a town located in one of the most conservative regions of the Ohio.
Republicans criticized the Biden administration’s slow response to the accident.
Donald Trump won the right-wing state of Ohio in 2016 and 2020, but Democrats are hopeful of winning it in November.
Ohio has been won in the past by Democratic candidates and voted last year to enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution, much to the chagrin of Republicans.