On 2/23/2023, a reporter asked White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, “the President frequently visits the sites of many natural and manmade disasters. And this situation in East Palestine has clearly required a multi-agency response from the federal and the state level. So I guess I’m just struggling to understand why the President wouldn’t go to East Palestine. Does it simply not meet the bar for a presidential visit?”
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Look, I don’t — it’s — I want to be very clear here: There’s no reason to struggle, I don’t think, on this question. I think when you look at how
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Okay. (Laughter.) What was that?
Reporter: Just a little — it’s a little family tune.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Oh, it’s pretty — a pretty good tune there. Oh. All right. Peter Alexander getting down with his phone. (Laughter.) Okay. So — and it didn’t stop — what I want to say is that it didn’t stop with the Environmental Protection Agency. Again, FEMA, CDC —
Reporter: Yeah, but that’s all different from a presidential visit, which is what I’m asking about.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: No, it’s — I — I — look, I want to be very clear here. I don’t — again, I don’t have anything to share on a presidential visit …
Reporter: Of course. But so does showing up.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: — taking it seriously.
Reporter: Right?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Look, showing up is having the Environmental Protection Administrator on the ground.
Reporter: Is the President going to go to Ohio, Karine?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I don’t have a — at this time, I don’t have anything to read out or — or announce on a travel to Ohio.
But, once again, we’ve had EPA on the ground. We’ve had DOT. Secretary Buttigieg is there today.
Reporter: My question, though, was whether the President was satisfied with that response. Is he?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Yes, he is. Look, we believe that, when you think about how this response occurred — right? … So, yes, the President is — is certainly — is, again, staying upda- — updated on what is occurring on the ground, but also appreciative of the work that his multi-agencies have been doing
Reporter: The mayor of East Palestine said that it was a “slap in the face” that the President had gone to Ukraine before he went to East Palestine. Does the President have any reaction to those comments?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Look, I’ll say this, and I kind of said this at the top already, which is, you know, I laid out what we have done … The President has stayed updated on this for the past several weeks …
Reporter: Can you at lea- — I know you can’t say if the President has plans to go there now. But is it in discussion that the President may go there in the near future?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I just don’t have anything to share. I know — I know there’s a lot of interest on that.
Reporter: Wouldn’t it make — I mean, I guess the question the folks are — for folks there, though, at least to say it’s in discussion. Has it been something that’s even under consideration?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I mean, I think what folks should understand and folks should, I think, feel at ease is that the President has taken this very seriously. Again, Secretary Pete was just there, again, meeting with the mayor — the mayor there and continuing to do —
Reporter: Was he there at the President’s direction? Was Secretary Pete there at the ma- — at the President’s direction?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: No, I — look, Secretary Pete went because he believed that it was important for him to go there at this time. And — and, you know, it is — it is — it is —
Reporter: Was this the right time to go? He said he wanted to go at the right time. Was this the right time? Even he, today, had some reservations about whether he met the right balance.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Look, I think it was important — I think what’s important is that he was there. I think what’s important is that we saw — we saw the Secretary of the Department of Transportation there. I do want to say one thing, though, which is there’s been a lot of bad-faith attacks on Secretary Buttigieg.
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KJP struggles to say exactly why Biden dodging visit to Ohio, helping Ohio Directly = Direction