Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is set to visit East Palestine, Ohio, Thursday, one day after former President Donald Trump and nearly three weeks after a Norfolk Southern train carrying toxic chemicals derailed.
Trump visited the town Wednesday and donated dozens of pallets of water and cleaning supplies. He also called out President Biden for failing to visit the area since the Feb. 3 derailment.
Residents expressed their frustration with the Biden administration.
One woman told Sara Carter on "Hannity" the president's trip to Ukraine was a "slap in the face."
"It's pretty much a slap in the face to go to Ukraine on President's Day and not come here to East Palestine," she said.
A second woman asked why Trump was the one who visited and not Biden.
"It's been over two weeks. Where is the administration that is in power now? Why are they not here? Why weren't they here the first week? Why weren't they here right after the mushroom cloud that everybody has seen and we continue to see played over and over again?" she asked.
East Palestine Mayor Trent Conaway said the town has everything it needs for now, but asked government officials to stay and continue monitoring the community.
"A lot of our residents have moved back in, and I'm generally concerned about their concerns. I just don't know — they tell us the water's safe, it's safe to go back to your home, but yet there's people getting rashes and I mean, they're nervous, so I really feel for our residents," he told Hannity.
Conaway added that he's worried about potential long-term health effects and wants officials to routinely check in with the community.
"That's why we need them to stay on the ground and keep monitoring the situation. We're going to need yearly health checks, if not, you know, bi-yearly health checks," he said. "Our residents are, you know, they're number one. Their safety is number one."
