Tag: train accident

MAGA Erupts as Mike Pence’s Think Tank Delays Justice for East Palestine

Mike Pence is siding with wealthy donors over victims of the East Palestine, Ohio, rail disaster, earning a cacophony of outrage from conservatives and prominent MAGA voices.

Pence, who like Democrats reflexively opposes Trump on issue after issue as he woos establishment corporate donors to enrich himself through his non-profit and stake a claim in the narrowing establishment lane for the 2028 Republican nomination, is fighting a bill first championed by then-Ohio Sen. JD Vance — and Pence’s likely 2028 primary opponent — to implement safety regulations for trains carrying hazardous materials.

Those regulations could have prevented the toxic spill that upended the lives of thousands in the East Palestine area after the 2023 train derailment.

The Daily Wire reports:

One of the groups opposing the bill is Mike Pence’s Advancing American Freedom — a fact seen as a net positive by those in Trump world who want the bill to finally advance. If the former vice president opposes something, it only makes it more of a priority for Trump’s White House, one senior official told The Daily Wire.

“Anyone that wants the Trump administration to support a piece of legislation should pay Mike Pence’s think tank and its lobbying arm to oppose it,” the senior White House official told The Daily Wire.

Advancing American Freedom, along with the Competitive Enterprise Institute, organized a group of think tank leaders who wrote to Congress on January 29 opposing the inclusion of the Railway Safety Act “in any surface transportation reauthorization legislation.”

In the aftermath of the disaster, Sen. Vance and candidate Donald Trump emerged as the greatest champions for East Palestine.

Vance quickly introduced legislation addressing the issue, quickly earning bipartisan support despite pushback from industry groups and their lobbyists. The bill still has not become law, with this week marking three years since the derailment.

And while a feeble President Biden, whose team limited his exposure through public events, failed to visit East Palestine, candidate Donald Trump beat Biden in visiting the small Ohio town, promising action and accountability for those responsible.

By ignoring the people of East Palestine, Pence, who has said Trump should “never be president of the United States again,” is proving to have more in common with Biden than a hatred of Trump. And conservatives were quick to berate the career politician for his callousness, lack of principles, and prioritization of personal political positioning over the people of East Palestine.

“No one is surprised that Mike Pence is opposing the Trump/Vance administration,” popular MAGA personality ALX posted. “So telling.”

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Train carrying GOP lawmakers to retreat hits truck on tracks, 1 killed

A train carrying members of Congress to a Republican retreat in West Virginia slammed into a garbage truck Wednesday, throwing lawmakers from their seats and leaving at least one person dead, officials said.

Authorities identified the person killed as Christopher Foley, 28, of Louisa County, Va., one of two passengers inside the truck. The other passenger, still unidentified, was airlifted to the University of Virginia Medical Center with critical injuries.

The truck’s driver, also still unidentified, was transported to a hospital with serious injuries, according to Madeline Curott, public information officer of the Albemarle County, Va., police department.

Several train passengers and crew members, including at least one lawmaker, were rushed to a local hospital for what were largely described as minor injuries.

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