Mika Brzezinski Calls Out Pete Buttigieg for Not Visiting Ohio Train Disaster Sooner: ‘The People Need to Feel Seen’

Mika Brzezinski agreed with critics of the Biden administration who insist Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg should have made an official visit to East Palestine earlier to address the community’s ongoing environmental disaster.

Brzezinski’s comments came as Morning Joe discussed former President Donald Trump’s visit to the town reeling from the recent train derailment that caused a major toxic chemical spill in the area. The show talked about how Trump used the visit to plug his own brand, plus they noted Fox News’ surprising defense of President Joe Biden visiting Ukraine instead of Ohio.

The focus turned to Buttigieg as former Biden Press Secretary Jen Psaki said it “would’ve been better optically” if he went to East Palestine faster. Buttigieg has admitted that not speaking about the disaster earlier was a mistake, and Brzezinski drove that point home.

Trump’s gesturing with his branding and his water aside, the transportation secretary, Pete Buttigieg, did make it clear he should have gone there sooner. Let’s put a pin on that. He should have gone there sooner, and the White House should have done a better job, even though they are in a major transatlantic moment dealing with the future of the safety of the world.

The people of East Palestine need to feel seen and heard, and I think that Pete Buttigieg is taking it on board that he needs to go there and do that. These are people who, right now, are very uncertain about their health and the future of their town. It is definitely a little bit of a bump for the White House to not make sure they shined a big light on what was happening there and, hopefully, in the days and weeks to come, they’ll be able to do that.

Brzezinski concluded by referring to the aftermath of 9/11 to make the point that the long-term health consequences of the chemical spill are currently unknown.

Watch above via MSNBC.