Gabbard tours Ohio derailment zone, praises community while calling out 'failure' of leadership

Former Hawaii Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard spoke with Fox News live from the eastern Ohio town hit hard by a nearby Norfolk-Southern freight derailment that released toxic chemicals into the environment.

Gabbard, who recently left the Democratic Party, told "Special Report" she spent Wednesday traveling around the area and speaking with residents affected by the derailment, spillage and its aftermath, while calling out perceived inaction from the federal government.

"I've got to tell you, everything that they've been through, I'm just inspired by the hope and the resilience that they still show through it all. This community and those around it have turned out like nothing else to support each other – unfortunately, in the face of a lack of support, really coming from the federal government."

Gabbard said that latter aspect of the situation feels like "deja vu" following recent disasters in Oahu, Hawaii and Jackson, Miss., that led to polluted water systems or the like.

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Americans are too often left "begging for basic support that they need and deserve from the government that's supposed to provide it to them," she said.

In the case of Oahu, which she used to represent in Congress, Gabbard pointed to military families affected by oil seepage into their well water after problems arose at the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage facility near Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Honolulu.

"Families… in the area were seeing these oily sheens in the water. They were filling up their pots to make dinner at night. Their babies were breaking out in rashes. Their pets were getting sick. And all the while, the Navy and those in power were telling them, 'Don't worry about it. It's not a problem'," she said.

"It was a very, very serious natural disaster that caused them all to evacuate for months before they could return home."

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In Ohio, Gabbard scoffed at reports of Norfolk Southern offering $1,000 as an inconvenience fee of sorts, calling it an "insult."

"So it's no wonder people here are angered, and they are frustrated at this failure of our own leadership to provide the services that they deserve while they see President Biden go off to Ukraine and give them $500 million, leaving the people here behind wondering what about us."

The Norfolk-Southern spill also disrupted rail traffic for several days, including on Amtrak's Capitol Limited between Washington and Chicago. 

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Gabbard said her visit Wednesday was unrelated to and not coordinated with former President Donald Trump – who said during his coinciding visit he flew in a large stock of Trump Water, as offered at his hotels, to locals in need. 

Trump said Wednesday he also worked to furnish the community with additional cleaning supplies, while criticizing President Biden and the administration's overall response to the crisis.

Ohio Republican Gov. Mike DeWine and U.S. EPA Administrator Michael Regan recently visited a home to assure residents the drinking water was safe, sampling tap water themselves.

Across the state line, Pennsylvania Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro announced a "criminal referral" in regard to the derailment, while high-profile State Senate Emergency Preparedness Committee Chairman Doug Mastriano, R-Gettysburg, visited affected areas on his side of the border, and videotaped how disturbing earth along a creekbed appeared to release "chemical" discolorations and a "butane smell."