It’s not enough that President Joe Biden told reporters Friday he has no intentions of visiting the town of East Palestine, Ohio, where a train derailment has turned into a potential environmental disaster.
It’s that he can’t even make the announcement without a reporter finishing one of his sentences.
At the White House Friday, the president was asked whether he would be visiting the town on the Ohio/Pennsylvania border where a Norfolk Southern train derailed Feb. 3, spilling vinyl chloride and other hazardous materials that were burned off by responders.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg visited the town Thursday after almost three weeks of delaying — possibly spurred on by a Wednesday visit by former President Donald Trump, whose message to Biden was that he should “get over here.”
But the president has no plans to do that.
“At this moment, not,” he said when asked about a potential visit.
“I did a whole video, I mean, you know, the uh — what the hell? On …” he said, descending into utter nonsense during the search for what he did on the danggum video thing on the whatchamacallit.
“Zoom?” a reporter offered.
“Zoom!” Biden confirmed. “All I can hear every time I think of Zoom is that song of my generation, ‘Who’s Zoomin’ Who?'”
“Are you planning on traveling to East Palestine?”
BIDEN: “At this moment not. I was, I did a whole video, I mean, uh, you know, the uh, what the hell? On…”
“Zoom?”
BIDEN: “Zoom. All I can hear every time I think of Zoom is that song of my generation, ‘Who’s Zoomin’ Who?'” pic.twitter.com/fBWAVar7Gm
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) February 24, 2023
Let’s leave aside that Grandpa Joe needs a reporter to remember what the name of “Zoom” is for a second.
“Who’s Zoomin’ Who” was released as a single by Aretha Franklin in 1985, reaching a peak position of No. 7 on the week of Nov. 30, according to Billboard Magazine.
Biden had just turned 43 at the time and was in his 12th year as a senator. It may have indeed been the song of his hair plugs’ generation, but not of Biden’s.
Of course, you sometimes get the feeling the songs of the president’s generation were Gregorian chants instead, but I digress.
Then again, there was also this fact, as one Twitter user noted:
Why couldn’t the derelict in chief Zoom Zelensky and actually visit Ohio?
— Milenka~ (@MilenaAmit) February 24, 2023
Despite the fact that Biden could find the time to travel over to Ukraine to show support for Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the war effort, he can’t find the time to visit a community that has grave concerns over a serious train accident and toxic spillage.
Trump, speaking in Ohio during his visit there, said that “I sincerely hope that when your representatives and all of the politicians get here, including Biden, they get back from touring Ukraine, that he’s got some money left over.”
Trump, speaking in East Palestine, Ohio:
“I sincerely hope that when your representatives and all of the politicians get here, including Biden, they get back from touring Ukraine, that he’s got some money left over.” pic.twitter.com/kdruLxDvnq
— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) February 22, 2023
So, why not go to Ohio? Perhaps it’s because the administration tried to imply the wreck may have had something to do with the Trump administration’s decision to suspend a requirement for electronically controlled pneumatic brakes on certain cargo trains.
However, an initial report from the National Transportation Safety Board found that the braking systems would have had no effect on the derailment in East Palestine. So there’s that.
Or maybe it’s because a Biden visit is simply inviting another gaffe like Friday’s if he ends up at a disaster site in a town on the border of two critical swing states. One can almost picture the scene:
BIDEN: “Before we begin, I’d just like to just offer a prayer to, uh, what’s his … gosh, He was the carpenter, uh, 12 — or 13? — apostates … uh …”
[firefly_poll]
REPORTER: “Jesus?”
BIDEN: “Jesus! That’s Him. All I can hear when I think of His name is that song of my generation, ‘Personal Jesus.'”
REPORTER: “Haven’t you been telling us you’re a devout Catholic, Mr. President?”
BIDEN ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: “This event’s over. Thanks for coming, everyone!”
REPORTER: “But weren’t we just about to say the opening pray–”
BIDEN ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: “I said event. Over.”
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.