Joy Behar says East Palestine residents got what they deserved after voting for Trump

On Thursday's episode of The View, co-host Joy Behar suggested that the residents of East Palestine, Ohio, who are reeling from the February 3 Norfolk Southern train derailment that released toxic chemicals into the area, got what they deserved after voting for Donald Trump, who "reduces all safety," including in their hometown.

"I don't know why they would ever vote for him," Behar said. "For somebody, who, by the way, he placed someone with deep ties to the chemical industry in charge of the EPA's Chemical Safety Office." Behar looked directly at the camera, pointed, and added, "That's who you voted for in that district. Donald Trump, who reduces all safety. He did."

Jack Posibiec tweeted, "BREAKING: Joy Behar says East Palestine got what they deserved because they voted for Trump 'That's who you voted for!'"

Behar had previously said, "it seems to me that the Republicans are obsessed with this notion of the free market and they don't like a lot of regulations" and "We have to pay for regulation and safety standards."

Co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin replied, "Norfolk Southern gives as much to Democrats as Republicans. It's a very powerful lobby" and said it was an "unforced error" that it took Biden so long to send Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg to the Ohio town.

Griffin also noted that East Palestine was "Trump country" and had voted for him by a 40 percent margin.

Earlier in the week, President Donald Trump visited East Palestine and passed out water.

On Thursday, Buttigieg arrived and when pressed by Turning Point USA contributor Savanah Hernandez about why it took so long for him to arrive, his press secretary said she could answer but wouldn't answer on camera, and said Hernandez was being "aggressive" in her questions.

"Joy Behar says the residents of East Palestine got what they deserved because they voted for Trump. 'That's who you voted for!' she shouted at the camera. 'In that district. Donald Trump, who reduces all safety. He did in those days,'" tweeted Media Research Center Associate Editor, Nicholas Fondacaro.

East Palestine residents had been ordered out of their residences after the train derailed. On February 6, authorities began burning off the chemicals to minimize the risk of a vinyl chloride explosion. On February 9, residents returned home and they found the odor of chemicals remaining in the air along with dead fish in rivers and creeks, causing concerns the local water supply had become contaminated.

Residents have also complained about a film of soot on their property and that they have suffered from eye irritation and headaches after returning home.