(LibertySociety.com) – Glen Kessler, the fact-checker for The Washington Post, recently decided to dig deep into whether or not the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, could be blamed on the rollback of a braking rule during the Trump administration. The Chair of the National Transportation Safety Board, Jennifer Homendy, previously took to Twitter in an effort to shut down claims that the rule would have had an impact. According to her, his particular train would not have been subjected to the braking rule that was rolled back anyways.
The Washington Post researched “every possible” regulation that was changed during the previous administration, but they found no changes that would have been responsible for the derailment. This came after an interview on MSNBC’s “The ReidOut” with Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who slammed former President Donald Trump for visiting East Palestine after “tak[ing] down regulations” and “weaken[ing] the power of the administration” pertaining to railroad companies. WaPo clarified that the Trump Administration repealed a rule that demanded the use of ECP brakes on “high hazard” trains, and this was not relevant to the train involved in the disaster.
The outlet did note that one of the individuals who helped create the braking rule believes it’s possible that it would have become more widely used if it hadn’t been repealed. However, the outlet also analyzed several other rollbacks made during the previous administration, and it found no evidence that they would have had an impact.
So far, the White House has not corrected the statement they released the day that the former president went to deliver water and cleaning supplies to the residents of East Palestine. In that statement, they slammed blamed Republicans and the Trump administration officials rolling back rail safety protections.
Copyright 2023, LibertySociety.com
