Daily Broadside | Bumbling Pete Shows Up A Day After Trump and 20 Days After Disaster

One of the big stories of the last weeks has been the massive train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, which spewed toxic chemicals into the air and water. The current administration not only refused to send help via the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA), but neither the Resident or Transportation Secretary Mayor Pete bothered to show up as a matter of leadership or good will.

Instead, Brandon showed up in Ukraine to hug-a-thug and Mayor Pete went missing until spotted by a lone Daily Caller reporter who asked him about his non-response to the disaster — at which point Booty-Judge refused to answer because he was on “personal time” and then stopped to take a photo of the pestering reporter.

Why the photo? Probably to add to the straight-shooting FBI’s growing list of white-wing terrorists who, as we all know, are the greatest threat to our precious democracy (*spit*). Creep.

In the meantime, President Trump visited the traumatized town and brought with him pallets of bottled water and food for the residents, then bought McDonald’s for the entire fire department and police department, and all diners inside the restaurant.

When a reporter shouted a question to Trump just before he left, he gave an obvious answer that underscored the difference between a man of and for the people, and a man of and for himself.

“Get over here.”

From there, President Trump headed to the East Palestine Fire Department, where he delivered an uplifting message to the community.

“We’re here today in East Palestine to show our love and support for our fellow Americans in this hour of need,” Trump said at the fire station.

“To the people of East Palestine and to the nearby communities in Ohio and Pennsylvania, we have heard you loud and clear. You are not forgotten,” the former president continued. “You are not forgotten.”

“We stand with you. We pray for you. And we will stay with you in your fight to help answer and get the accountability that you deserve,” Trump added.

Once Trump announced his visit, FEMA suddenly revealed that, by golly, assistance was available after all. And once Trump actually visited on Wednesday, Mayor Pete showed up the next day (yesterday) — nearly three weeks later and after taking his “me” time.

It was an opportunity for Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who nearly three weeks after the derailment visited East Palestine on Thursday, to claim responsibility and demonstrate his ability to reinstate safety and security. Instead, he laughs about his failures, blames the Trump administration and gives speeches about racism in transportation rather than adequately addressing immediate concerns.

Mayor Pete tried to explain his lame and late response to the disaster.

‘What I tried to do is balance two things: My desire to be involved and engaged and on the ground — which is how I’m generally wired to act — and my desire to follow the norm of Transportation secretaries, allowing NTSB to really lead the initial stages of the public-facing work. I’ll do some thinking about whether I got that balance right, but I think the most important thing is first of all making sure the residents here have what they need,’ said the Transportation secretary.  

In the face of mounting criticism, Buttigieg also blamed the Trump administration and rail companies for undermining safety regulations he says led to the crash. 

‘One thing he [Trump] can do is express support for reversing the deregulation that happened on his watch. I heard him say he had nothing to do with it, even though it was in his administration.’

Why do these woke incompetents constantly fail upwards?

Brandon doesn’t care and won’t visit. Given that Mayor Pete showed up 20 days after the fact, he might as well have just stayed home and took “personal time” for all the good it did.

Have a good weekend.