Republicans criticize Biden over Chinese balloon
STORY: A day after a U.S. fighter jet shot down a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon, recriminations were floating about what took so long.
Republican lawmakers criticized U.S. Democratic President Joe Biden for not taking down the alleged spy balloon sooner.
Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas told Fox News on Sunday, "we should have shot this balloon down over the . We should never have allowed it to transit the entire continental United States."
The suspicious flying object was spotted just over a week ago, entering U.S. airspace near Alaska. It floated over Canada and then back over American territory in Montana, then continuing to the Atlantic coast where it was brought down by an F-22 stealth fighter off the coast of South Carolina on Saturday.
Biden said on Saturday he issued an order on Wednesday to down the balloon after it crossed into Montana -- but the Pentagon recommended waiting until it could be done over open water to protect civilians from debris crashing to Earth from nearly twice the altitude of commercial air traffic.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said on Saturday the U.S. military was able to collect "valuable" intelligence by studying the balloon. And he said that three other Chinese surveillance balloons had transited the United States during Republican President Donald Trump's administration.
That claim prompted a furious denial from the former president.
Trump wrote on social media, "China had too much respect for 'TRUMP' for this to have happened, and it NEVER did."
Speaking on Fox News Channel's "Sunday Morning Futures" show, Trump's former director of national intelligence John Ratcliffe also denied prior balloon incidents.
China claims the balloon was an airship used for meteorological and scientific purposes, which strayed into U.S. airspace accidentally.
On Sunday Beijing condemned as an overreaction the American operation to blow it out of the sky.
相關影片推薦
- 1:18美馬戲團大象逃脫 穿梭車陣民眾驚呼 馬路秒變野生動物園Yahoo奇摩(國際通)29,905 次觀看・1 天前
- 6:11強震來臨這3個縣市最危險 李鴻源曝災防都更因「票房毒藥」難行今天誰來沛214,419 次觀看・21 小時前
- 1:53加拿大史上最大黃金盜竊案逮6人 加航「內鬼」偽造空運單 400公斤黃金恐已熔化售出Yahoo奇摩(國際通)35,074 次觀看・20 小時前
- 1:13柯建銘質詢一半突喊「我看不到」計時器 透露眼睛病變華視影音7,949 次觀看・22 小時前
- 1:1126歲抗癌網紅因胃癌去世 生命最後5個月沒吃沒喝娛樂星聞57,891 次觀看・2 天前
- 1:15謝和弦不認偷吃陳芳語嗆前妻記錯人!自爆出軌對象是「她」秒遭Keanna打臉娛樂星聞7,046 次觀看・13 小時前
- 2:02英國女遊台南「喝全糖珍奶」 嚇壞驚呼:天大錯誤華視影音305,559 次觀看・1 天前
- 23:55台積電法說會登場 投資人關心加碼美國新廠風險 但面對拜登和川普搶當美國保護主義隊長 川普幕僚密謀促貶美元 拜登祭301調查要提高中國商品關稅 台積電等於買了保險|鏡轉全球 #鏡鏡新聞807 次觀看・15 小時前
- 1:39男童"騎單車"上快車道 暖心民眾放慢車速"殿後"護送民視影音55,494 次觀看・19 小時前
- 2:22世界最小核潛艇 法國老牌「紅寶石級」罕見公開 直擊內部作業、核動力能巡洋數月Yahoo奇摩(國際通)12,228 次觀看・1 天前