EAST PALESTINE, OH—FEB. 29, 2024—Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. Tuesday visited East Palestine, Ohio, the site of one of the worst environmental disasters in decades after 38 train cars carrying vinyl chloride and other toxic chemicals derailed when a wheel bearing overheated and came off.

Kennedy, an environmental lawyer for nearly 40 years, sat down for an exclusive interview on “The Story with Martha MacCallum,” which included five East Palestine residents, whose lives were upended by the disaster.

Fox News host MacCallum explained how three days after the derailment, officials made the determination that rather than risk an explosion, they were going to do a controlled burn, a decision that many residents believe was devastating to their health and their property.

During the interview, Kennedy said, “This [disaster] occurred because of a failure of government. Norfolk Southern was paying its executives 80% of their salary for reducing costs. That’s where their bonuses come from. The company should be criminally charged for what it did to this community. It was an act of theft. It stole the property values. It stole the health. It stole the pursuit of happiness from this wonderful community.”

When asked what he would do if elected president to prevent disasters like this one, Kennedy said, “Preliminarily, we need to unravel the corporate capture at DOT that allowed this to happen. And right now, President Biden says that he’s going to fix this problem and hold them responsible. Why isn’t the Attorney General investigating this and filing criminal charges?”

“This whole town is a crime scene,” Kennedy continued. “What I would love to see President Biden say is, ‘This happened because of a failure of government. This happened because these agencies are captured, they’re corrupt, and I’m not going to tolerate it anymore. I’m going to expose and fire the people who are not doing the proper testing. I’m going to prosecute the people who are responsible at the outset.’ Instead of a vague promise that ‘We’re going to take care of everybody.’”

The Kennedy campaign today released a video, “What I Would Do in East Palestine,” explaining what Kennedy would have done if this disaster happened on his watch.

MacCallum also sat down with Kennedy for a one-on-one discussion on his independent run for president and the campaign’s ballot access plan to ensure he will be on the ballot in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

In January, Kennedy visited Lahaina, Hawaii, to see firsthand the devastation from the wildfire that destroyed this historic town on the island of Maui, another example of mismanagement due to corporate capture.

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