A top Biden White House official recently admitted it is not "agonizing" over deciding whether to visit the site of the toxic train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio.
NBC News reported that a senior White House official claimed the administration hasn’t really pressed the issue of visiting the afflicted town despite local residents, Republican Party critics, and even some of President Biden’s Democratic Party colleagues urging him to show.
The NBC News piece published Monday reported there have been no concrete plans laid out for that visit, despite Biden's pledge to go. The derailment has created an environmental disaster for the area and set off debates about railroad safety and industry regulation.
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"With pressure mounting to visit the site of the toxic chemical spill in East Palestine, Ohio, President Joe Biden said last week that, yes, he does intend to go. But there is no trip in the works. Nothing on his schedule," NBC News reported. "Nor are there any plans in motion for Biden to visit the hard-hit area any time soon, administration officials said."
NBC News described the White House as being "fuzzy" on the issue and cited a senior Biden official who implied a trip to Ohio is not at the top of their list.
"When or if the president should go is of course a question we would talk about, but I don't think this is something we've been agonizing over in real-time,’ a senior White House official told the outlet.
Former Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Ohio, has been critical of Biden for not going and told NBC News he was puzzled by his absence.
"I’m shocked that it hasn’t happened," Ryan said. "I just don’t understand. This is not a hard one."
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Biden's team has said he didn't want to go right away in order not to distract from clean-up efforts, but NBC News noted that some White House officials "are growing more bewildered that Biden has kept away."
It even made references to Biden’s past behavior of visiting populations "shaken by trauma" to convey how unusual it is for Biden to not have visited East Palestine by now.
"I think he should have gone earlier, but I have to assume there were really smart discussions behind the scenes that presented a viable reason why he was waiting to go," another anonymous official told NBC.
Another White House official told NBC News that when Biden does go, it would be at a moment that "makes sense."
