Last year, after a train derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, spilling toxic chemicals, Joe Biden blew up the train, saying he would visit there sometime.
Nearly a year later, Biden has yet to visit the country.
Trump went there almost immediately and told the people there that they had not forgotten. Talk to the residents and bring them clean water. He met with the mayor. This, according to one writer, was the moment that decided the fate.
Salina Zito is one of the few columnists in America who understood the MAGA phenomenon long before other people in her field.
She wrote in the Washington Examiner:
Trump's path to victory began when the train derailed
EAST PALESTINE, Ohio — The rain and sleet were unforgiving here on February 22, 2023, the day former President Donald Trump came to this small village in Columbiana County. Despite the weather and concerns about what was in the air or what kind of chemical was lurking in the mud puddles they walked through, people lined Main Street by the hundreds as Trump's motorcade was packed with state and local law enforcement. In the heart of the city.
Men and women, young and old, children and teenagers, and dozens of Amish families, all waited in the icy rain along the designated route in anticipation of Trump's arrival in their city, less than a month after 38 cars drove through South Norfolk. A train throws toxic residue into the air.
If you had been here for weeks – as I did while reporting on the disaster – you would have understood, more than anything else, that people here want to know that those in power will help them. Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio), just weeks after being sworn in, has been here several times. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and Governor Mike DeWine (R-Ohio) also attended. However, the person with the most power, President Joe Biden, did not attend, and never will.
Vance told me that Trump did the people of eastern Palestine a great service by forcing the political class to care about them.
He said: “His visit filled the leadership vacuum left by Joe Biden's indifference to this disaster.” “It sent a clear message to the rest of the country that these people are our fellow Americans and we cannot leave them behind.”
Zito made an excellent observation about all of this and showed that she still understands Trump better than most journalists.
“In the constant dissection of what other candidates did wrong, we forget to talk about what Trump did right, and this was one of those pivotal moments that people overlooked.”
Trump's inflection point began where no one was looking; East Palestine https://t.co/7AOnQA74ql pic.twitter.com/ugAxLWyTij– Zitosalina (@zitosalina) January 22, 2024
Biden celebrates with Hollywood celebrities while Trump visits places like eastern Palestine. The choice couldn't be clearer.
