President Joe Biden shared a social media post on Monday that highlighted his recent visit to East Palestine, Ohio, in which he claimed his administration has been there ‘since day one.’
The president’s claim was met with criticism after making his first visit last week, which was one year since the toxic chemical train accident.
“To the folks in East Palestine, Ohio: Our Administration has been here since day one, and we’re not going home until the job is done,” Biden said in a post.
In a video attached to his social media post, Biden talks to East Palestine residents. “We look out for one another. We leave no one behind, and we come back stronger than we did before. That’s what we’re doing here; that’s what’s happening right here in this community,” his voice is heard saying.
The president was heavily criticized for not visiting the site where the Feb. 3, 2023, hazardous train derailment released millions of gallons of toxic chemicals throughout the rural Ohio town. It took 378 days before the president made his first visit last week.
“LMAO – Day one = a year later,” a social media user said in response to Biden’s video.
“You abandoned East Palestine because they didn’t benefit your political agenda,” another person responded to his post.
Another person reacted to the post, “‘Our Administration has been here since day one…’ Spoken like a true dementia patient.”
“Over a year to finally make it to East Palestine, Ohio for a photo op. Folks! It’s an election year. Nothing to see here,” a woman said on social media.
Other Biden administration officials had made visits to the site of the disastrous train derailment last year but were also criticized for the slow response in reacting to the accident. In February 2023, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg visited the town three weeks following the incident but had not publicly addressed the accident for nearly ten days.
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Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) slammed the president for not visiting East Palestine sooner.
“President Trump: Visited East Palestine right after the train derailment and bought food for the community,” the Ohio congressman criticized the president on social media last week. “President Biden: Visited Ukraine after the train derailment and visited East Palestine a year later.”
