
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre would not say, during a White House press briefing on Wednesday, whether President Joe Biden will drink the water from the Ohio town of East Palestine when he makes a long overdue trip there to meet with residents after the city suffered a devastating toxic spill caused by a train derailment.
Jean-Pierre seemed briefly flustered when Phillip Wegmann of Real Clear News asked, “Next month when the president is in East Palestine, will he drink the water there?” Her reply did not answer the question directly or indirectly.
Karine Jean-Pierre: “[Biden] wants to make sure that he is there for [East Palestine, Ohio].”
Biden is only going to East Palestine after close to a year of calls for him to go and after spending almost 130 days on vacation since the derailment. pic.twitter.com/ehCxKi94yl
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) January 31, 2024
“I mean, look, what I can tell you is the president’s focus has been to do everything he can to support this community from day one,” Jean-Pierre answered.
“We get what’s going on on the ground, we understand what’s going on, that’s why we had the EPA and DOT and HHS and FEMA on the ground. You know, this is not about some sort of political stunt here. This is about this president being a president for everyone and showing up, showing up for this community. That’s what this is about,” Jean-Pierre added.
Jean-Pierre then repeated that drinking the water would be a stunt: “I’m not going to get into some sort of political stunts about drinking water. We’re going to focus on making sure they have what they need. The president was invited by the mayor and community leaders, he’s going to show up. He always said he’d be there when it was most helpful.”
Karine Jean-Pierre struggles to explain why Joe Biden has taken so long to visit East Palestine, Ohio.
Biden has spent almost 130 days on vacation since the derailment.
— American.357 (@ASimplePatriot) January 31, 2024
Wegmann then persisted in getting an answer to his question, explaining, “The reason I ask is despite some of the federal assurances, there are folks on the ground who are not political and just very concerned, and they doubt some of the—” which was all he could get out before the White House press secretary interrupted him.
“And we understand that, we get that, we get that. Something horrible happened to that community [ … ] We’re taking this incredibly seriously. And the president is going to go down there in February, when the time permits, the best time to do this… to visit the community and be there,” Jean-Pierre said.