Biden can’t afford anymore bad news. But it’s all his lackeys seem to give him.
And Pete Buttigieg went on CNN and completely humiliated Joe Biden.
With the Republican primary effectively over, it looks like Trump v. Biden is going into round two.
The difference this time? Biden has years of his presidency that show he’s an abject failure.
Polls show it, and Americans know it.
With such a terrible outlook, Biden needs his cabinet to be ambassadors for his brand, but they’re letting him down massively.
CNN’s Jake Tapper questioned Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg on the Biden administration’s response to the Norfolk Southern train crash almost a year after the hazardous disaster in East Palestine, Ohio.
In a Monday interview, Tapper asked Buttigieg why the federal government is not responding to calls for a major disaster declaration, including those from Ohio Republican Governor Mike DeWine and Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), which could unlock additional resources such as health screenings for residents.
“The Biden administration refuses to do that,” Tapper stated.
“They say a disaster declaration does not apply because it’s not a natural disaster. They say Norfolk Southern is responsible. So is that disaster declaration still just off the table for these residents who are clearly suffering?”
CNN: Why won't Biden approve the Ohio governor's disaster declaration for East Palestine, Ohio?
PETE BUTTIGIEG: "I don't know all the legalities of the emergency management process" pic.twitter.com/5Dj6m6Em0q
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) January 22, 2024
Buttigieg replied, “Look, leaving aside — I don’t know all the legalities of the emergency management process, I do know what we can do as a department to make sure that railroads are safer. We’ve been taking action on everything from focused inspection of railroads, to making sure that there’s better hazardous material-related regulations, to just investing in better railroad infrastructure.”
Biden issued an executive order in September instructing FEMA to designate a federal disaster recovery coordinator to “oversee long-term recovery efforts in the affected communities and conduct a comprehensive assessment of unmet needs of the affected communities in recovering from the derailment beyond the cleanup work directed by EPA.”
Jim McPherson, the coordinator, was appointed later that month. However, there has been no disaster declaration.
Tapper also pressed Buttigieg on why Biden has not visited East Palestine since the derailment in early February 2023 — a question that has been posed to the White House numerous times in the past year, often answered through statements about how the president intended to go at some point but did not get around to scheduling it.
JAKE TAPPER: "[Biden] still has not visited East Palestine, Ohio. I don't know why that is — that doesn't seem to make much sense to me … why wouldn't he just go to East Palestine?"
BUTTIGIEG: "I don't have any updates" pic.twitter.com/s7OWEghsI7
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) January 22, 2024
Biden “still has not visited East Palestine, Ohio. I don’t know why that is — that doesn’t seem to make much sense to me,” the CNN anchor said.
Tapper asked why Biden would not go to East Palestine and “use the bully pulpit” to get bipartisan legislation from Brown and Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) to increase railroad safety regulations passed through Congress.
“I don’t have any updates on the scheduling front for the White House but what I can tell you is it shouldn’t take anything more than we’ve already seen happen for Congress to act,” Buttigieg said.
“I don’t know why we have to persuade anybody to do something that members in both parties claim to care about, which is to make our railroads safer.”
Stay tuned to the DC Daily Journal.
