'War on white people': Charlie Kirk's train derailment conspiracy theory

14 February 2023

Right-wing commentator and Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk is now the latest conservative voice to proffer conspiracy theories about the Friday, February 3rd freight train derailment that spilled toxic chemicals like gaseous vinyl chloride in East Palestine, Ohio, forcing an evacuation and sparking calls for immediate reviews of regulations to prevent worse incidents from occurring in the future.

United States Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg addressed the incident in a Tuesday Twitter thread:

I continue to be concerned about the impacts of the Feb 3 train derailment near East Palestine, OH, and the effects on families in the ten days since their lives were upended through no fault of their own. It’s important that families have access to useful & accurate information:

USDOT has been supporting the investigation led by The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). Our Federal Rail Administration and Pipelines and Hazardous Materials teams were onsite within hours of the initial incident and continue to be actively engaged.

We will look to these investigation results & based on them, use all relevant authorities to ensure accountability and continue to support safety.

In the meantime, our Federal partners at EPA are onsite and monitoring indoor and outdoor air quality to test for VOCs and other chemicals of concern.

EPA has screened 291 homes and no detections were identified – and 181 homes remain. To request screening, call 330-849-3919. For more information, visit: https://response.epa.gov/site/site_profile.aspx?site_id=15933

Despite the Environmental Protection Agency's assurances that it is safe for most people who were displaced to return to their homes, reports of health problems in humans and animals have emerged, fueling claims that the federal government's bizarre entanglements with unidentified flying objects are distracting the population from the disaster.

Kirk, however, took those ideas a step further, stating on his Tuesday podcast that the crash was a failed attempt to eradicate white people that was orchestrated by members of President Joe Biden's Cabinet:

Not a single member of the Biden regime would dare to go to this portion of Ohio and breathe in the air because they know it's dangerous. They know that it is actively poisoning the citizens of Eastern Ohio. So, why is it that they kind of shrug their shoulders and they 'say, yeah, okay, whatever?' It's very simple. It's because the war on white people continues. Why would you care for the white working-class voters in eastern Ohio? You haven't cared about them in other reasons or other portions and I will prove it to you.

Kirk accused Buttigieg of downplaying the true severity of the crisis:

If this train derailment happened in downtown Atlanta in the densely populated Black neighborhoods, this would be the number one news story. It would be Flint water crisis 2.0. There would be clamoring and activism and talks for reparations. And Buttigieg, meanwhile, is out there saying, 'listen, while this derailment is happening, while the act of poisoning is happening,' he's saying, 'look, the problem is that workers are too white.'

Kirk then rolled footage of Buttigieg speaking at Monday's National Association of Counties Conference, where the former South Bend, Indiana mayor lamented the long-standing pattern of public works initiatives passing over locals for employment on those endeavors:

We have heard way too many stories from generations past of infrastructure where you got a neighborhood – often a neighborhood of color that finally sees the project coming done, but everyone in the hard hats on that project looking like, you know, doing the good-paying jobs – don't look like they come anywhere from near the neighborhood. You can build community wealth that will help close wealth gaps in this country if we can tear down those barriers. But that happens at the delivery level.

But to Kirk, Buttigieg's comments are proof of the sinister plan:

Buttigieg is out talking about how workers are too white. For the last couple of years, I have been warning about this crusade against white people. And people shrug their shoulders and say, 'oh, Charlie, why does that matter?' I could tell you why it matters. When there is a crisis now and the leaders hate working-class whites, they're not going to scramble to save your life. They'll lie to you and tell you to go back home while you're poisoned.

Watch below via Media Matters for America or at this link.

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