Since the time of original reporting on this matter, Glenn Kessler at The Washington Post has conducted a thorough analysis of “every possible regulatory change made under Trump that could be related to the accident and assess whether it could have made an impact.”
Kessler’s analysis determined that “none of the regulatory changes made during the Trump administration at this point can be cited as contributing to the accident.”
We apologize for any confusion or misleading statements unintentionally made in the below article.
Read the full Washington Post analysis here.
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Yesterday, Trump paid a visit to East Palestine, Ohio, at the site of the recent catastrophic toxic train derailment that released various hazardous chemicals into the town’s air and waterways.
As noted by Bloomberg, it came as no surprise that the ex-president’s trip to the tragedy-stricken town was fueled by his desire to fully capitalize on his criticism of his successor President Biden amid the crisis and, more specifically, Biden’s controversial decision to make an unannounced visit to Ukraine, to meet with President Voldomyr Zelenskyy amid the ongoing Russian invasion and attack, before he made an in-person appearance in East Palestine, Ohio. Frankly, there was really no doubt in anyone’s mind that Donald’s flashy visit to the town in crisis was nothing more than a political PR stunt, under the hope that it breathes some new life into Trump’s DOA 2024 presidential campaign.
But what we’re sure Trump didn’t expect from this was the newly-ignited focus on his own rail safety failings during his tumultuous presidential administration — which are now so painfully obvious that even Fox News is having trouble denying it.
The East Palestine stunt has brought new attention and scrutiny to the regulatory rollbacks Donald Trump implemented against new braking requirements implemented by the Obama Administration for certain trains that were carrying hazardous materials. Trump dismantled these regulations during his term, undoubtedly simply because they hailed from his predecessor, yet had they been left in place, there is a high likelihood that the Norfolk Southern Corp. train that derailed in East Palestine would have been equipped with what is known as Electronically Controlled Pneumatic brakes, which may very well have prevented the catastrophic tragedy.
This morning, a panel of Fox News hosts convened for a segment, where they discussed the OH train tragedy and proceeded to attempt to divvy out the blame for the toxic catastrophe.
The alt-Right network hosts pointed the finger toward Norfolk Southern Railway and the lukewarm response we all saw from Congressman Bill Johnson; and, of course, weren’t shy about placing the bulk of the blame at the feet of the Biden Administration. However, surprisingly enough, it seems they didn’t let Donald Trump entirely off the hook in the matter:
Speaking of the White House, apparently regulations regarding train safety were changed during the Trump Administration. This particular railroad and others lobbied President Trump to dismantle an Obama-era rule that would have required railroads to update braking systems, and apparently, the Obama administration had pushed for it to govern the transport of hazardous materials after about half a million barrels of crude were dumped but ultimately the Trump Administration undid that and argued the cost exceeded the benefits.”
👀 @FoxNews: “Regulations regarding train safety were changed during the Trump administration. This particular railroad and others lobbied President Trump to dismantle an Obama-era rule that would have required railroads to update their braking systems.” pic.twitter.com/g5AfGeGfle
— Andrew Bates (@AndrewJBates46) February 23, 2023
Trump, of course, has vehemently denied any conceivable culpability in the catastrophe, despite the extensive records of his administration’s regulation rollback decisions. But it’s pretty clear he has no clear path out when even Fox News knows he carries a lot of the blame here.
Featured image via Flickr/Gage Skidmore, under Creative Commons license 2.0
