Fox News correspondent Peter Doocy undercut on Tuesday President Joe Biden’s excuse for not yet visiting East Palestine.
Six months ago, Biden promised to visit East Palestine, Ohio, the site of a train derailment and a controlled burn of several railcars that released highly toxic chemicals into the environment. But Biden has not yet made that visit. Over the weekend, Biden was asked why he has not made good on his promise.
His excuse? “Well, I haven’t had the occasion to go to East Palestine. There is a lot going on here, and I just haven’t been able to break,” Biden claimed.
On Tuesday, Doocy poked holes through Biden’s claim.
“The derailment was on Feb. 3. President Biden has not had a break since Feb. 3?” Doocy asked White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre at the daily press briefing.
“The president will go to East Palestine. He promised that he would, and he will. You saw him —” Jean-Pierre tried to respond when Doocy interjected.
“So, he was not on a break when he was in Lake Tahoe?” the Fox News reporter fired back.
In response, Jean-Pierre reiterated that Biden will visit East Palestine “as he has said that he is committed to do.” She pointed to Biden’s recent visit to Florida, which was slammed by Hurricane Idalia last week, as proof that Biden will make good on his word.
That trip, of course, was the partial impetus for Doocy’s question.
Not only has Biden taken multiple vacations recently — one to Rehoboth Beach and another to Lake Tahoe, as Doocy noted — but Biden also found time to visit Maui and Florida, two sites of recent natural disasters.
Biden visiting East Palestine will likely make no difference in the recovery there. But it isn’t lost on East Palestine residents that Biden has not visited despite promising to come. And so the question remains: If Biden has time to visit other disaster sites and to go on multiple vacations, why can’t he squeeze in a few hours for a small town in eastern Ohio?
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