Several people say President Joe Biden's decision to finally visit East Palestine, Ohio, a year after the community was hit by a devastating train derailment, looks a lot like canceling a campaign campaign. Republican strategist told The Daily Caller.

After pledging to visit East Palestine, Ohio for a year, the White House announced Wednesday that Biden would finally visit the area and meet with residents and local officials.On the other hand, the White House Said An invitation from East Palestine Mayor Trent Conaway influenced the decision to visit the community, Republican strategists told the Daily Caller, who believe the election year played a larger role.

“I think they have a big political wound and are just desperately putting a little Band-Aid on that wound in hopes of bleeding enough to get them across the finish line. But I think these None of this is to confuse an actual concern about what's happening in Ohio with an actual concern about what's happening at the border. They don't care,'' said a longtime Kentucky official. Scott Jennings, a Republican consultant and veteran of numerous campaigns, told the Daily Caller.

“They care about winning elections, they care about political power. They don’t care about the loss of functional human sacrifice. “I would have already shown some level of caution,” Jennings continued.

On February 3, 2023, a train derailed in South Norfolk, spilling toxic chemicals into East Palestine, Ohio. Three days later, on February 6, a controlled incineration was carried out, releasing pollutants into the air, soil, and water.

About a month after the disaster, Biden promised to visit the community “at some point.” Members of the Biden administration also visited, including Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who faced backlash for his initial response to the disaster. (Related: Pete Buttigieg confronts DCNF reporter on DC streets over response to toxic train crash)

Former President Donald Trump visited the area on February 22 and donated pallets of water and cleaning supplies to the community to aid in the recovery.

Biden had no plans to visit the area in the wake of the train derailment, but the White House sent first responders from both the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Transportation. A few months later, Biden issued an executive order requiring the Federal Emergency Management Agency to appoint a disaster recovery coordinator to oversee the town's recovery.

Although the administration has continued to stress that it will hold Norfolk Southern Railway accountable, the Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a lawsuit against the railroad in March 2023.

Democratic strategist Leslie Marshall acknowledged that she thinks Biden should visit East Palestine after committing to it. Either way, Marshall told the Daily Caller such visits can sometimes do more harm than good.

“If you sit back and think about it, there's a lot going on here. Any time the president goes somewhere, it's really hard for the locals,” Marshall told the Daily Caller. “This is a major disruption and disruption for the local military, transportation, etc. And when the president goes to the scene of a disaster, it just adds to the work that needs to be done to respond to that disaster. It can be a distraction from what you need to do.”

Ohio EPA and EPA contractors are collecting soil and air samples from the derailment site in East Palestine, Ohio, on March 9, 2023. A clean-up operation continues after a south Norfolk train carrying toxic chemicals derailed and caused an environmental disaster. Thousands of residents were ordered to evacuate after a state of emergency and temporary evacuation order was issued for the area. (Photo by Michael Swensen/Getty Images)

Calls for Biden to visit the region have been growing over the past year. East Palestinian residents told the New York Times that they even felt forgotten by the president.

“I feel like I don't matter,” said East Palestine resident Jessica Conard. Said The NYT reported on Biden's absence from the visit.

Now, amid a break in campaign activity and business at the White House, Mr. Biden is heading to East Palestine to meet with local residents and assess his administration's efforts in the region. As we enter the first month of the presidential election year and the president faces shaky numbers in the polls, Republican consultant Mark R. Weaver told the Daily Caller that the trip will be an opportunity for Mr. He said it looks like an opportunity to rescue him from his unpopularity.

“The Biden campaign knows that their candidate is seen as weak and ineffective. Broken promises have reinforced that perception, and his promise to go to East Palestine has been blown out loud. It was chanted and immediately ignored,” Weaver told The Daily Caller. “This is an exercise in check to fend off President Trump's criticism that Biden is more concerned about foreigners crossing the border than Americans in red counties.”

A series of polls shows Mr. Biden trailing Mr. Trump in a hypothetical face-off. Trump leads the incumbent president by up to 9 points in key battleground states, including Arizona, Georgia, Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Nevada and North Carolina. according to I responded to a Morning Consult/Bloomberg survey. (Related: Biden's approval rating hits record low: poll)

About a week before Biden's visit to East Palestine, Ohio was announced, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said: Said The president will travel when the time is right.

“If it's appropriate or helpful, please support the community to have him there, of course he is there. He's done it,” Jean-Pierre said.

“This is a complete campaign shutdown,” Mike McKenna, a Republican consultant and president of MWR Strategies, told the Daily Caller. “He's not going to say much about rail safety either.”

“And like LNG, [liquefied natural gas] It helps us stop and talk about things other than Middle East issues,” McKenna added.

Will President Biden drink East Palestine's water?

“The president's focus from day one has been to do everything we can to support this community.” @PresSec He said, noting the efforts of EPA, FEMA, and HHS.

“This is not about some kind of political stunt,” she told RCP.

— Philippe Melanchthon Wegmann (@PhilipWegmann) January 31, 2024

DJ Yokley, a local business owner from East Palestine, Ohio. Said Fox News said it believed Biden was making the visit to check a box.

“The American people woke up and realized that our nation's leaders did not show up for the greatest catastrophe of 2023,” Yokeley told the outlet. “This is an election year, so now he's going to show up. Obviously the polls show that President Trump came and helped us when we didn't need him. I think we saw that from the beginning.”

“I think it's the right time. He probably should have gotten there sooner. But I think it's appropriate to mark the one-year anniversary of the tragedy,” Democratic strategist Brad Bannon told the Daily Caller. Told. “You have to consider that the president had a lot to do. I think people forget that. He's a wartime president. We're fighting a proxy war. Expand. He is busy with his duties as commander-in-chief in the Middle East and Eastern Europe, where he appears to be working.

In addition to declining poll numbers, Biden faces pressure to resolve a growing border crisis while leading his administration's response to attacks by Iranian-backed groups on U.S. interests in the Middle East and the Red Sea. . (Related: KJP comes to defense, says Biden “recently” visited the border over a year ago)

Jennings pointed to a recent New York Post report criticizing Biden for not visiting the town earlier. Indicated The president spent 37% of 2023 vacationing at either his Delaware mansion, vacation spot or Camp David.

“Is that a day you can't afford? Do you have a day with a 37% vacation rate to deal with this problem? I feel like they're not operating with political power. They're panicking. I'm in a state of panic,” Jennings told the Daily Caller.