The mayor of East Palestine, Ohio, the site of a toxic train derailment, criticized President Biden for visiting Ukraine on Monday.
Mayor Trent Conaway described Biden’s trip to Kyiv, Ukraine as “the biggest slap in the face.”
Biden traveled to Kyiv from Poland to give Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy $500 million to pay for pensions.
“Absolutely. That was the biggest slap in the face,” Conaway said during an appearance on Fox News’ Jesse Watters Primetime. “That tells you right now he doesn’t care about us,” Conaway added.
RELATED: Donald Trump Gets Disaster Aid to East Palestine
The Biden administration took 2 weeks to provide financial assistance to the residents of East Palestine after a train derailment released hazardous chemicals into the air on Feb 3.
Residents were forced to evacuate, as thousands of fish died in nearby streams that flow into the Ohio River.
Conaway is not impressed with the government’s late response.
“He can send every agency he wants to, but I found out this morning that he was in Ukraine giving millions of dollars away to people over there and not to us … on Presidents Day in our country, so I’m furious,” he said.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are on the ground in East Palestine to assist with medical assessments and hazardous cleanup.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) initially denied the governor of Ohio’s request for financial aid because no homes were destroyed in the disaster.
