WATCH: East Palestine Residents Impacted By Train Disaster Chant ‘No More Joe’ As They Await Trump Arrival

Residents affected by the train derailment In anticipation of former President’s visit, chemical fallout from East Palestine, Ohio was gathered Donald Trump Wednesday afternoon

All residents within one mile radius of the February 3 train derailment were evacuated by local and state authorities. started To lower the possibility of an explosion, a controlled burning of industrial chemicals was performed on the vehicle. Vinyl chloride (a carcinogenic substance used in manufacturing PVC) was emitted by five train cars in massive plumes. This caused concerns about the quality of air and water for millions of people living in the Ohio River Basin.

Trump announced his third bid to the White House in the last year and said he would visit East Palestine Wednesday to draw attention to the relative silence of President Joe Biden on the disaster. Biden appears to be the most likely Democratic candidate next year. Savanah Hernandez, a Post Millennial reporter filmed dozens of people waiting for Trump to visit East Palestine. Many waved Trump flags and others chanted slogans. “No more Joe.”

Chanting has been adopted by locals “No More Joe” As they wait for Trump’s arrival in East Palestine pic.twitter.com/RkhiHcfmzb

— Savanah Hernandez (@sav_says_) February 22, 2023

The crowd appeared displeased as one individual held a sign bearing critical slogans about Trump. Some 72% of Columbiana County residents cast their ballots for Trump in the 2020 election cycle, according to data from the Columbiana County Board of Elections.

Locals have lined up awaiting Trump’s arrival.

One person has shown up with a “Trump is mentally ill” sign. Residents are not pleased. pic.twitter.com/mlaTSt5tkY

— Savanah Hernandez (@sav_says_) February 22, 2023

Biden has not yet visited East Palestine but took a clandestine trip to Ukraine on Monday to express solidarity with the nation’s war effort against Russia. FEMA granted a request to aid residents of East Palestine with the disaster recovery only after Trump revealed his plans to visit the town, a note that the former commander-in-chief sounded on social media.

Trent Conaway, the mayor of East Palestine, likewise characterized Biden’s mission to Ukraine as a “slap in the face” in an interview with Fox News. “He doesn’t care about us,” he added.

Trump won his first race for the White House in 2016 by discussing issues especially critical to the rust belt, such as eliminating illegal immigration, encouraging the return of manufacturing jobs, and “draining the swamp” of entrenched bureaucratic power in Washington. The celebrity businessman clinched Ohio by eight-point margins in both 2016 and 2020 after former President Barack Obama decisively won the swing state for the Democrats in each of his elections.

The highest-ranking member of the Biden administration to visit East Palestine has so far been EPA Administrator Michael Regan, who canceled a climate change mission to Africa he was scheduled to lead alongside celebrity couple Idris and Sabrina Elba as his agency addresses the fallout. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg has yet to visit the small town and did not publicly address the crisis for more than a week after it began; the official said on Monday that he would visit East Palestine “when the time is right.”

The EPA ordered Norfolk Southern, the company at the center of the train derailment, to manage the cleanup of the toxic chemical spill, which has caused a lingering smell in the air and contamination in local bodies of water despite state and federal officials’ insistence that air and water quality is not a cause for concern. The agency also threatened to “immediately step in, conduct the necessary work, and then seek to compel Norfolk Southern to pay triple the cost” if the company fails to adequately complete enumerated cleanup actions.

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