White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was bombarded Thursday by reporters criticizing the Biden administration's response to Ohio's toxic train crash and questioning why President Joe Biden has failed to visit the East Palestine site, Mediaite reported.
Her defense came the same day Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg visited East Palestine, Ohio, the site of a Feb. 3 Norfolk Southern train derailment that has unleashed an environmental disaster on the community.
Buttigieg "met with the community leaders, including the mayor and the fire chief, and received an update from the National Transportation Safety Board on their investigation," Jean-Pierre explained.
Jean-Pierre also said Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael S. Regan ordered Norfolk Southern "to clean up its mess and pay or reimburse for all of the expenses."
"If the company doesn't, the EPA said it'll make the company pay three times the cost of whatever cleanup is needed," she added.
When questioned about President Joe Biden traveling to Ukraine the same week former President Donald Trump visited the town, Jean-Pierre reiterated statements that the administration has been taking the crisis seriously from Day One.
Reporters pointed to East Palestine Mayor Trent Conaway calling Biden's decision to prioritize Ukraine "the biggest slap in the face" during a Monday appearance on Fox News' "Jesse Watters Primetime."
As reported by Reuters, President Biden said as recently as Friday that he had no plans to personally visit the site of the train derailment, already visited by his transit secretary, Buttigieg.
At least a dozen reporters grilled Jean-Pierre on why President Biden hasn't made a trip to East Palestine.
She responded by stressing how seriously President Biden takes the issue.
"Federal teams have been on the ground since 2:00 a.m. [Eastern Standard Time] on Feb. 4, which is, again, hours after the derailment, which was on Feb. 3," Jean-Pierre said. "They've been working to hold the railroad company accountable, investigate the derailment, monitor the air and water, and have screened over 550 homes."
The press briefing occurred as the Biden administration deals with backlash from elected officials – including Democrat Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia – accusing it of a slow-rolled response to the Feb. 3 incident.
"It is unacceptable that it took nearly two weeks for a senior administration official to show up," Manchin said of Regan's first visit on Feb. 16. "The damage done to East Palestine and the surrounding region is awful and it's past time for those responsible to step up to the plate."
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