CNN labels East Palestine, Ohio ‘hardcore Trump country’ as it downplays anger towards Buttigieg’s response

To explain away why the Biden administration hasn’t rushed to the scene of the major train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, and note why former President Donald Trump is so eager to visit this week, two journalists appeared on CNN to characterize the town as "Trump country."

New York Times reporter and CNN analyst Maggie Haberman called the town part of a "Trump-plus 20 district" on Wednesday morning, noting that the former president is merely going there to capitalize on good publicity. 

In the afternoon, CNN senior national correspondent Miguel Marquez characterized the region as "hardcore Trump country" to explain away some of the negative reactions to U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg’s handling of the train derailment disaster.

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Buttigieg has received a torrent of criticism for having not yet visited the site of the catastrophic train derailment. Responding to the accusations of his inaction, the federal official eventually admitted he "could have spoken out sooner" on the catastrophe.

He will reportedly visit East Palestine on Thursday.

Meanwhile, former President Trump is visiting the devastated town on Wednesday. Haberman took shots at his trip during her appearance on "CNN This Morning" prior to Trump touching down in the Ohio town.

CNN anchor Poppy Harlow prompted the discussion, saying, "Let’s switch gears here, because former President Trump is going to Ohio today. East Palestine, to be specific, the site of the toxic train wreck in a county where he won more than 70 percent of the vote in 2020… the transportation secretary, Pete Buttigieg hasn’t been yet. Trump capitalizing on that?"

Haberman described Trump’s trip as a cynical bit of opportunism, mentioning he would never have gone if the 2020 presidential election was closer in that district.

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She replied, "Yeah, I mean, if this was not a Trump plus 20 district, as you just said, I don’t think you would be seeing him there. If this was anything that was, you know, much closer electorally."

She added that Trump "has been looking for opportunities to put himself in the news cycle," and "look as if he’s contrasting with President Biden." 

During CNN’s "Inside Politics" in the afternoon, reporter Miguel Marquez made the point that because East Palestine is "hardcore Trump country," they have little patience for Biden and Buttigieg. 

Speaking with CNN anchor John King, Marquez almost absolved Buttigieg and the Biden administration’s fumbling of the crisis, saying, "This is going to be a very hard audience for a Democratic administration to win over. This is sort of hardcore Trump country, and they were very upset – the mayor on down here in East Palestine – that the president went to Ukraine rather than coming here."

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Marquez was citing East Palestine Mayor Trent Conaway’s recent comments alleging Biden is more supportive of Ukraine rather than his town during a recent appearance on Fox News Channel’s "Jesse Waters Primetime." 

Conaway claimed, "That was the biggest slap in the face. That tells you right now he doesn’t care about us. He can send every agency he wants to, but I found out this morning that he was in Ukraine giving millions of dollars away to people over there and not to us…on President's Day in our country, so I'm furious."