Biden Administration Points Fingers at Everyone But Itself for Ohio Train Derailment

Andrew KerrFebruary 23, 2023

As they defend the Biden administration’s handling in East Palestine of the deadly train derailment, Pete Buttigieg, Transportation Secretary, and the White House point fingers at everyone except themselves.

Buttigieg visited East Palestine this Thursday amid fierce criticism of his lackeism over the three weeks since a train got lost. “basically nuked” The town is with Toxic chemicals. Buttigieg, speaking to reporters near the crash site blamed Congress and the Trump administration as well as rail industry lobbyists. He also blamed Norfolk Southern, the operator of the train, and its operator, Norfolk Southern. Buttigieg also blamed the National Transportation Safety Board and his partners for not responding quickly to the crisis.

He closed the press conference by pleading with his critics to not play politics with the disaster.

“The country should be wrapping their arms around the people of East Palestine, not as a political football, not as an ideological flashpoint, not as a gotcha moment,” According to Buttigieg who did not mention the crisis in 23 interviews with media he conducted within the 10 days following the derailment, Politico.

Buttigieg’s latest disaster is the East Palestine train derailment. The transportation secretary, who was in serious trouble, was on paid leave for children. “mostly offline” During the 2021 supply-chain crisis. He also managed the airline industry, which saw tens of thousand of flights cancelled, stranding passengers in 2022. Buttigieg has a track record that has caused critics to question whether Biden was smart to appoint the small town mayor with presidential aspirations as the head of the transportation department.

Buttigieg admitted Thursday that he should have spoken sooner on the crisis in East Palestine. Buttigieg said that he was following the precedent set by his predecessors and letting the National Transportation Safety Board, an independent federal agency responsible to investigating civil transportation accidents, lead the matter.

“What I tried to do is balance two things—my desire to be involved and engaged and on the ground, which is how I am generally wired to act, and my desire to follow the norm of transportation secretaries, allowing NTSB to really lead the initial stages of the public-facing work,” Buttigieg said.

Thursday, the NTSB issued The derailment was caused by an overheated wheel bearing, according to a preliminary report. Jennifer Homendy of the NTSB, a Biden appointee to chair, stated that the train was unable to stop.