Biden Tries To Take Victory Lap For Shooting Down Chinese Spy Balloon, Gets Slammed By Top Officials
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
President Joe Biden tried to take a victory lap Saturday afternoon after the U.S. military shot down a Chinese spy balloon that Biden allowed to travel across the entire country before destroying.
Biden claimed in remarks to reporters that he "ordered the Pentagon to shoot it down on Wednesday as soon as possible," but that the decision was made to not shoot it down over land because debris could cause damage when falling to the ground.
U.S. officials were reportedly "well aware" that the balloon had crossed into American airspace on January 28 and that it was over Idaho on Tuesday, but decided not to inform the public to not upend Secretary of State Antony Blinken's diplomatic trip to China.
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said that the spy ballon was sent to the U.S. "in an attempt to surveil strategic sites in the continental United States."
Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), the Vice Chairman of the Appropriations Committee and a member of the Intelligence Committee, said in a statement that Biden should have taken out the balloon much sooner "over remote areas of Alaska or Montana."
House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mark Greene (R-NC) said that it was "indefensible that this threat was eliminated only after great public outcry and the damage to U.S. national security and American sovereignty was already done."
"The fact remains that President Biden, when faced with the opportunity to protect the homeland from our adversaries, chose yet again to demonstrate weakness on the global stage," Greene added. "From the Southern border to Afghanistan and, now, Chinese surveillance directly above our homes and sensitive military installations, this President shows he is not interested in protecting American interests."
House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-TX) said that Biden should have "taken care of this before it became a national security threat."
"I hope we will be able to recover the wreckage to help determine what intelligence the CCP collected while its spy balloon was over our country for days," McCaul said. "I will be demanding answers and will hold the admin accountable for this embarrassing display of weakness."
Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-MO) said that while he was glad the U.S. military shot down the spy balloon, "the damage has already been done."
"We need answers from the Biden Administration on why it took this long to bring the Chinese spy balloon down and we need [to] ensure that this never happens again," Schmitt continued.
Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT) slammed the entire episode as "a tremendous embarrassment for the United States of America."
Rep. Mike Waltz (R-FL) called the ordeal "an abysmal security failure by Biden."
Some Democrats, including Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), were not happy about the incident, saying that "the Chinese government's incursion into our airspace is unacceptable & we need to treat it as such."
"There need to be consequences for the CCP beyond the postponement of @SecBlinken's trip to Beijing," she said. "All members of Congress need to be briefed on the situation this week and in the future as we learn more from studying the remains of the balloon's payload. We also need to take steps now to demonstrate to the Chinese government the seriousness of their actions. Whether through new sanctions or tighter restrictions on U.S. exports to China, the message needs to be loud and clear."
Other notable responses included:
Almost 48 hours after public discovery, the Chinese spying balloon has been shot down.
It makes you wonder, would Biden's Department of Defense have shot it down if the American people hadn't found out?
— Sen. Marsha Blackburn (@MarshaBlackburn) February 4, 2023
The Chinese spy balloon was shot down today off the coast of S.Carolina, but it SHOULD have been removed as soon a it crossed into U.S. territory days ago.
This fiasco was as dangerous to our national security as it was unacceptable. The American people deserve answers. pic.twitter.com/TcfNEadw4d
— Rep. Mike Johnson (@RepMikeJohnson) February 4, 2023
Like everyone, I'm concerned about the Chinese surveillance balloon, but this is not a new thing.
The CCP has been SPYING on the U.S. for years. It's why I fought with @RepStefanik to pass the American Security Drones Act, which would ban any purchase of non-U.S. drones.
— Rick Scott (@SenRickScott) February 4, 2023
There needs to be a full, transparent accounting of what happened and why this spy balloon was allowed to violate U.S. territorial sovereignty for so long in the first place. — Senator Deb Fischer (@SenatorFischer) February 4, 2023
I'm glad to hear the spy balloon was shot down, but it should have been shot down long ago. President Biden should explain himself immediately. — Rep. Michelle Steel (@RepSteel) February 4, 2023
Now that this embarrassing episode is over, we need answers from the Biden Administration on the decision-making process. Communist China was allowed to violate American sovereignty unimpeded for days. We must be better prepared for future provocations and incursions by the CCP. https://t.co/ao8gy8LAp3 — Senator Thom Tillis (@SenThomTillis) February 4, 2023
Finally. However, this is something that should've occurred day ago **before** it entered U.S. airspace. https://t.co/iv6sZi207D — Rep. Ken Buck (@RepKenBuck) February 4, 2023
This was a test by the CCP & Biden failed. The American people deserve answers. — Ashley Hinson (@RepAshleyHinson) February 4, 2023
Allowing China to fly its spy balloon from coast to coast was a test. Biden failed. With Biden as President, our enemies no longer fear us. China must be held accountable. — Congressman William Timmons (@RepTimmons) February 4, 2023
Biden is busy campaigning while a Chinese spy aircraft is floating freely over US soil. Including flights over sensitive national security assets like Fort Bragg. — Richard Hudson Press (@RepRichHudson) February 4, 2023
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A nice and tidy explanation: The military didn't want to shoot it down over land and waited from Jan 28 to Feb 1 to tell Biden. He was so decisive that he said shoot it down when you can. Then came the story that it happened under Trump. As NARA proved, they always have to lie about Trump...the man China feared!
Funny, I don't remember commercial airliners reporting an oversized CCP spy balloon that was visible from the ground meandering over the continental US during the Trump administration.
They changed the story to spy balloons near our military bases in Hawaii. Don't remember the media- who detested Trump- reporting on that either. Could it have been the balloons never entered US air space so there is nothing Trump could have done about them? Also, being in international waters commercial airlines wouldn't bother with them either?
The "But Trruuummmmppppp!!!!!!" BS from Democrats and leftists is beyond old. Nothing Trump did or didn't do excuses the Human Fuck Up Machine they put in the Oval Office!
Brandon's timid tepid response to this blatant incursion into US air space has nothing to do with Trump; not matter how Democrats and their media sycophants want to spin it!
According to the Daily Mail:
I see the Bidenites are running full out with more fiction.
They are bold as brass about telling lies. There aren't any consequences for them.
Nonsense, but what else to expect from a Trumpster conspiracy theorist?
It is nonsense that team Brandon made up lies about CCP spy balloons flying over the US during the Trump administration just to try to cover his ass.
What else can we expect from the Human Fuck Up Machine's administration?
Well, give us the proof John
And while you're searching for that maybe you can explain what would have happened if Montanans hadn't spotted it? Would we have ever been told about it? Would it have even been shot down?
"the damage is incalculable" ?
lol. The damage is minor unless you are a Trumpster or John Bircher.
read something beyond your far right sources
There is only one way your take on this could be correct, and that is if Biden's military advisers recommended that the balloon be shot down over Montana and then Biden said no.
By all accounts that is not what happened. The military said wait. Case closed.
You do realize that all the information that the balloon recorded has already been transmitted. The balloon was shot down after it's mission was over.
NORAD is supposed to track all that stuff. What happened on the front end. Let's face it John, we now have to ask ourselves if Biden was so eager to have better relations with China, that he might have ignored the spy balloon if it hadn't been detected by civilians?
So we are being told. The military knew of it on Jan 28. People in Montana saw it on Feb 1 and supposedly that's when they told Biden.
A lot of questions need to be answered.
Interesting that John Birch was an Army Intelligence Officer worker in China during WWII.
when we say "John Birch" nowadays we are not talking about a person actually named John Birch, we are talking about the paranoid conspiracy anti communist movement started by Robert Welch and carried on in spirit by countless conservatives today.
Lol...What are you hearing over at the Pentagon?
JR is referring to the extremist group that William F Buckley turned away from Conservatism back in the 60's.
Do you really believe that Chinese balloons floated over the US during Trumps presidency and no one in a plane, or on the ground saw it and reported it? Do you really believe that Chinese balloons floated over the US during Trumps presidency and it was never leaked or told to the media that loved him so?
Are you interested in buying a bridge in Brooklyn?
too bad Buckley's efforts to keep conservatism mainstream have failed in 2023.
I dont really care whether Chinese balloons floated over America during the Trump administration.
There is another very possible scenario. Biden's advisors told him about it on the 28th but he was focused on what flavor ice cream he wanted so balloons did not interest him at the time and it wasn't until the fourth time they told him that he realized what was going on.
That this was the first overflight of the continental US by a Chinese balloon. The was one, several years ago, with a much smaller payload that briefly overflew Florida.
When I first read that I thought no way would you not care about a chance to trash Trump, made up or not. Then I realized you must figure there is no way to spin it so Trump looks bad without saying Joe did something wrong. Now your response makes perfect sense.
Evidently they know more than NORAD. The head of NORAD never heard of any of them:
“Every day as NORAD commander, it’s my responsibility to detect threats to North America,” Air Force Gen. Glen D. VanHerck of the North American Aerospace Defense Command told reporters. “I will tell you that we did not detect those [previous] threats. And that’s a domain awareness gap that we have to figure out.”
They already have a backup story now. The balloons went undetected. In other words: ranking military officials at the time didn't know, thus Trump didn't know.
That's what it looks like when they have to back down from a blatant lie.
BS. You would have screamed about Trump being compromised by the Chinese for allowing it to occur.
Too bad Brandon is the one that has been proven to be compromised.
At least more of Hunter's butt ugly artwork will have a home outside of the US.
The proof keeps getting more illusive, especially when the latest backup story implies Trump was never told.
More whining by the right.
Carry on its par for the course.
More denial and lies from the left.
Carry on, it is nothing more than we expect at this point.
More stupidity from the right.
Carry on.
With more lying and denial from the left.
Carry on.
NEWS FLASH: This just in! Biden orders Chinese weather balloon shot down over Montana. GOP top officials are furious. They say Biden needlessly risked American lives on the ground. Republicans to seek immediate impeachment proceedings claiming Biden intentionally bombed a red state.
Damned if you do and damned if you don't. A true lose/lose situation.
Fuck all far-right wing propagandists!
So satire is lost on conservatives?
That would have been the far-right wing stance had it been.
Biden is always wrong no matter what he does according to the far right.
There's another piece to this that needs investigation and heads need to roll. It's reported that the military first spotted the balloon over Alaska on Jan 28th yet they didn't tell anybody? This is the same as the reported times during the Trump administration that the military knew Chinese balloons had entered American air space yet they didn't tell anybody and did nothing about the balloons? And the reported three encounters during the Trump administration were found "after the fact"?
This needs to be investigated. The military is not there to decide when to act, they are under the direct command of the Commander in Chief and are under civilian control. They answer to us and this needs to be fully investigated and fixed.
Until this is fully investigated and all evidence presented to the public, this will remain a partisan issue that each side will use to hammer the other side with. The American public deserves so much more than this shit. Yeah, I know. That's how the political parties work. Keep the sheep divided and all is well for the party...
We will probably never know exactly what intel the Chinese wanted when they sent their balloon over the US. But we can rest assured that Joe did his part in making sure they got what they wanted.
Now we need to see if the story can fall off the news cycle before the other shoe drops. In case no one noticed, the military is conducting a recovery operation. If the balloon was spying then we'll have the evidence. But should the evidence not align with the hype then don't be surprised when there are reports that recovery failed. Or that the instrument package was too damaged to figure out its purpose.
As usual, Biden is digging a larger hole for himself by floating his own balloons. The US military only now 'discovered' that this happened during the Trump administration, too? Really? Sounds more like political expedience than reliable intelligence. Are those balloons still floating around in the stratosphere since Biden wasn't there to shoot them down?
The balloon episode is another example of Biden's botched foreign relations. Biden's foreign policy efforts have been to claim military expansion as diplomatic successes. Biden flails around, threatens everyone, and can't win a peace. And Biden can't seem to win the wars he starts. Biden has used a number of incidents to engage in provocative political rhetoric only to fall back on victimhood to hide failures.
Agreed. The DOD needs to present the evidence to the public or retract it immediately. But we know that won't happen. Problem with this is the reporting was based on a Press Secretary and an unnamed senior official. No evidence was given so we are just supposed to take the word of the journalist for what was "honestly" reported. Guess they don't want us to remember that trust in main stream media is actually lower than trust in Congress right now...
The US military is behind the 8 ball. Recruitment efforts haven't met targets. There are too many private sector jobs; the military can't compete on wages and benefits. And the military doesn't have a lot of patriotic successes to attract recruits. The military is finding itself in a situation that is as bad or worse than the aftermath of Vietnam.
The Air Force deployed a $200 million fighter jet and had to use a guided missile costing between $300k to $1 million to down a low tech balloon. That was a highly visible use of firepower with public relations value. But it was a very expensive PR stunt; a literal smoke screen. Where were the Global Hawks that could escort the balloon across the United States?
You left out a major factor, about 75% of our 17- to 24-year-olds are ineligible for military service due to lack of education, obesity, other physical problems, or criminal history. 25% of those don't have a high school diploma,of those that do, about 30% still fail the Armed Forces Qualification Test.
Why doesn't the military simply take in the out of shape and GET THEM IN SHAPE!
Isn't that part of what boot camp is for?
Another factor that gets little attention is that citizenship is not a requirement for military service. Immigrants do need to have status as legal residents, have work permits, and can speak (and read) English. Military service really does provide a pathway to citizenship. And obese immigrants aren't jumping the border.
Immigration policy may also fall under the umbrella of military recruitment.
That is what boot camp used to be for!
Breaking down individuals and turning them into united lean, mean, fighting, machines, with the same common goal is what boot camp is supposed to be for.
You can't do that now. It will hurt recruits feelings.
Ten weeks isn't long enough to safely get some in shape This year a new pilot program will be tried,
The Future Soldier Preparatory Course is set to start in early August at Fort Jackson, S.C. The program will offer two three-month courses, one to help potential recruits raise their Armed Forces Qualification Test score to the desired 31 or higher and another to help recruits slim down to the service’s body fat requirement.
Nothing to see here people. Joe has it under control.
Swalwell's Chinese girlfriend pulled out all the stops to let him know the gender of his kid.
The response was totally incoherent. Their first instinct was to ignore it and go on with sending blinker to China. Once it became public knowledge it had to be shot down.
The paper in Montana that published the story is essentially driving our national defense response.
As I was telling a friend of mine, personally don't care if it happened before under who's admin, this isn't a Dem, Repub, Progressive, left-leaning conservative, right-leaning democrat, Independent...this is a US security issue. It was clearly a spying vessel. I realize our military couldn't fly a B-17 or other aircraft(s) with a toe-hook and drag it back to open water then shoot it down, but c'mon, you wait until it hits the Carolina coast?!?! Yes, it has a 7 mile debris field but so what? I'd rather piss-off some home / land owners than have our sensitive locales spied on. How about an evac order over certain areas since the balloon was allowed to "drift" over land and not taken out in the Pacific? Again, realize I'm over simplifying things, but damn?!?!
Another thing I don't get is why the victory laps on downing it and the "We're retrieving the debris as we speak". So what, China already has what they want. This isn't the 40s - 60s when you had to retrieve microfilm and tapes from the wreckage. Yes, get and analyze the debris but this isn't a high-five moment; it's more of a "You five must've been high to let that balloon cross the US".
Can B-17's fly at 60,000-62,000 feet? That's how high this was. According to a search, their ceiling is 36,500.
Well i can see why they didnt take it out over the PAC NW over the ocean , some of the coldest and deepest waters with some pretty gnarly currents and tides .
I think the only reason its in the news is someone spotted it and reported it , not only to the government , but to news agencies .
Altitude became a factor , i searched to see how many fixed wing AC can get that high , list wasnt very big , the F-22 raptor is in that list but only for a very short time due to the thinness of the air . My thought was a presurized C-130 with a cable played out behind it to rupture the balloon , well it wouldnt have worked because of the max it was capable of doing .
then there was the consideration of what data could they get if it was taken down , they had to choose the enviroment that best suited the most recovery of the package , think of it this way , if you are on an aircraft , and its going down , which would you choose , a terrestrial crash or a water crash ? which do you think you would have a better chance of surviving ?
They played a numbers and percentage game in which had the potential for the greatest amount of data they could recover .
I could be wrong, but from 60k feet, I don’t think there’s a lot of difference between hitting dirt and hitting water.
This doesn’t make much sense to me. This thing drifted over some really empty countryside. What “damage” could it do? Put a massive hole in the dirt? Knock down a tree? Kill a few small animals? It probably killed some fish when it fell in the water, anyway. Maybe a dolphin, even. Why is the ocean sooooo much better?
I would also think it would be way more cheap and efficient to pick up the pieces on land, as opposed to hunting for them in the ocean.
i think that the difference between damage of land vs water is what they looked at water crash a little less damage , that and 47 ft of depth is within normal scuba range , they played the odds to maximize what they could recover .
I’m still not clear on whether they were more concerned with the damage the craft would cause or the damage it would receive. In either event, falling from that altitude, I would think the thing would be absolutely demolished whether it hit ground or water. And it seems like the pieces would be easier to spot on land.
Perhaps in the Spring after the snow has melted ... a white balloon in white snow ... ?
maybe a little of both , this would definitely be considered an uncontrolled landing no way to actually direct where it would hit . hard soft or whatever .
I’m pretty sure it’s not the balloon part we’re interested in.
The "senior defense official" told journalists in a background conference call Saturday that Chinese government surveillance balloons "transited the continental United States briefly at least three times during the prior administration." Democrats seized on the Pentagon's disclosure to defend President Joe Biden amid outcry that China's balloon was allowed to travel unimpeded for several days across the continental United States, only to see the claim fizzle less than 24 hours later when other anonymous officials said the balloons were discovered only after former president Donald Trump left office.''
Par for the course... Government officials lie to make Trump look bad to sympathetic outlets and get the lie ingrained in the national discourse. Then it gets walked back as the lie becomes untenable.
And of course, the lying official is protected.
From the article you linked.
First they lied on the original statement, as you stated.
Second, they lied again. How the hell did they find out about these balloons until after Trump left office? Did they go back and pick 3 random UFO events during the Trump administration and say "Must have been Chinese spy balloons"? Did they suddenly figure out how to read radar since they had so long to study this spy balloon meandering across US airspace; and then go back and say "Aha, see there are similar readings here, here, and here! That must be a spy balloon, even if there was no other evidence, or air/ground sightings."? Or are they just that full of shit to expect anyone to believe them when it is obvious they are protecting Brandon?
We can now add the military to the IRS, DOJ, and FBI as branches of the government that have been weaponized by Democrats against their political opponents.
And now they have to fess up:
So telling Trump officials after the fact is now considered "in good faith"?
Also, how the hell do you do forensics after the fact on a spy balloon- unless there are credible witnesses that have come forward, or you recover the remains of the spy balloon and used it's navigation system to trace it's route? If they are going just on radar readings- how can they be sure?
Expect a lot of eye rolling during these briefings; and several WTF questions afterwards.
That's another mystery of US intelligence along with the 52 former Intell officials who claimed that the Hunter Laptop was akin to Russian dissinformation.
If they are going just on radar readings- how can they be sure?
They couldn't, but then again, he isn't really explaining anything, is he?
Expect a lot of eye rolling during these briefings; and several WTF questions afterwards.
I predict the deep blue state will get off easy!
Turn on C-Span and find out
REPORTER: "How is it possible that this administration discovered at least three previous balloons that flew over the US under the previous administration, but Trump officials didn't know it was happening?"
KJP: "Yeah, so, look, I think that uh, and we have talked about this..."
"Top general admits NORAD failed to detect earlier Chinese spy balloons in U.S. air space."
"The Air Force general charged with protecting America's air space from hostile threats acknowledged Monday that the U.S. military failed to detect some previous incursions by Chinese spy balloons, calling it a troubling "awareness gap" that needed fixing."
Was it really worth embarrassing the Air Force, simply to tell another egregious lie about Trump?
At least it does point out a glaring gap in our air defense system.
One that needs to be closed ASAP.
Instead this has turned into a political game of protect Brandon at all costs with a massive amount of "But Trruuuummmmppppp!!!!!!"
I think we've become very complacent over the 8 decades since WWII. We even had a General say he would give China a heads up if the U.S. ever launched an attack! Our enemies are no longer in awe of us and in the case of China, they have become our equal in many ways. So yes, it is a wake up call.