What if we told you former President Trump lied about something for political gain? Even if you were a Trump acolyte — which, sorry he fooled you — you wouldn’t be surprised by the fact that the man treats truth the same way he treats everything: for his own advantage. His latest falsehood? President Joe Biden didn’t send aid to East Palestine after the train derailment disaster.
In a video posted to his ironically named social media site Truth Social, Trump employed one of his favorite tactics – blame the other guy and say you can do it better without actually doing anything. “Biden and FEMA (The Federal Emergency Management Agency) said they would not be sending aid to East Palestine,” he says at the start of the video.
Before we go any further, it’s probably prudent to illustrate that the opposite is true. Per White House briefing, Biden immediately sent aid to East Palestine, and then promised more aid on Feb. 16. “Within hours of the Norfolk Southern train derailment,” the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency), the DOT (Department of Transportation) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) were all involved.
“As President Biden told Ohio Governor Mike DeWine and Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro soon after the derailment, the Federal Government stands ready to provide any additional federal assistance the states may need,” the White House statement explains.
Trump then plays the hits about how Biden’s administration is only good for “cheating at elections and disinformation.” He then says “We’re going to take care of you, Ohio,” even though the former President has nothing to do with disbursing aid, and hasn’t even pledged anything concrete.
That’s what this man does. He talks and talks and he never offers solutions. It’s always, “Well if the other guy did his job it would be fine.” Telling people you “care about them” is hollow, and using a tragedy as a political talking point is also slimy but par for the course, so who’s surprised?
Here’s his nebulous non-promise: “With me as your president, I’ll go out there and help them and do a fantastic job. Ohio is a great state, it’s a wonderful state with hard-working patriots. We’re gonna take care of you, Ohio. We’re going to take care of you.”
Case in point: the last statement literally says nothing. No plan. No talk of details. Just simple, easy to understand platitudes for people who don’t do research (don’t be like them — FactCheck.Org is one reliable, nonpartisan resource) and who believe everything they’re told. But yeah, he loves you, Ohio.
