President Joe Biden thought he was off the hook after the U.S. Military finally shot down the Chinese spy balloon on Saturday, after knowing about its presence for days allowing it to travel across the entire country.
The president tried to take the blame off of his delayed response and put it on the Pentagon, claiming that on Wednesday he ordered them to shoot the balloon down, however, it was the Pentagon who decided it was best to wait.
Yet, U.S. officials were reportedly notified of the Chinese spy balloon on January 28. Eight days before action was taken. Biden ultimately decided not to alert the public so that it would not postpone Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s trip to China.
Reports say that Blinken would have still gone to China had the public not found out about the surveillance balloon.
However, officials aren’t going to let him walk away that easily. They want to hold Biden accountable for not making a move the minute he heard of a possible threat to the U.S.
House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mark Green (R-TN) called out Biden for showing how weak he is to both Americans and other countries.
“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,” Green said in a statement. “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.”
Green continued to say that it is inexcusable that the president took action against the Chinese only after it was made public.
Other countries know they can walk all over Biden. In fact, they are probably laughing right now at all of the foolishness Biden has done since taking office.
Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT) reiterated that, saying the president is "weak," and that "a circus clown knows how to handle a balloon better" than the president did.
"There’s a reason why Vladimir Putin went into Ukraine. Because he knew Biden’s weak. There’s a reason the Chinese continue to test the Taiwan Strait. Because they know Biden is weak,” Daines said. “There’s a reason they launched this spy balloon and just let it hover over America, because they knew Biden is weak.”
Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-MO) is demanding answers for why it took so long for the Chinese balloon to be shot down, adding that he was glad the U.S. Military took action but sadly “the damage had already been done.”
Meanwhile, Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT) called Biden’s response a “tremendous” embarrassment for the entire U.S.
It was not only Republicans who called out Biden for his botched response to the surveillance balloon. Several Democrats also called for consequences following the event.
Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT), chairman of the Senate Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, is “demanding answers” from the Biden Administration, adding that his committee will hold a hearing about the spy balloon.
“China's actions are a clear threat to those values and America's national security, and I'm demanding answers from the Biden Administration. I will be pulling people before my committee to get real answers on how this happened, and how we can prevent it from ever happening again,” Tester said.