The U.S. military on Saturday shot down the alleged Chinese spy balloon off the coast of the Carolinas.
Joe Biden told reporters he gave the order to shoot down the balloon on Wednesday.
The balloon made headlines Thursday when it was spotted in Montana.
BREAKING: Pentagon Tracking Suspected Chinese Spy Balloon Over Montana
"I told them to shoot it down on Wednesday," Biden told reporters.
"They said to me let's wait until the safest place to do it," he added.
WATCH:
Biden says he ordered Xi's Spy Balloon to be shot down on Wednesday but was overruled by military until the surveillance aircraft was over water pic.twitter.com/6NigXOmuQe
— Citizen Free Press (@CitizenFreePres) February 4, 2023
So, military officials overruled the Commander-in-Chief?
Another example that shows Biden has no control over his administration.
Perhaps Biden never gave such an order and they're running cover for the White House resident?
Just a reminder, the Biden administration became aware of the balloon entering American airspace on January 28th.
https://twitter.com/officer_Lew/status/1621987352993308673
Per Bloomberg:
As it turns out, US authorities were well aware of the unidentified object that had entered American airspace on Jan. 28, that had then left and re-entered over North Idaho on Tuesday. But with such a high-profile trip at stake, keeping it on the down-low was key.
By the time the thing became visible in Montana, President Joe Biden had already been briefed and the White House was scrambling to decide whether to blast it from the sky.
The gravity of the situation was only exacerbated by Montana being home to Malmstrom Air Force Base, which houses a large portion of the US’s Minuteman intercontinental ballistic missiles.
Who's really in control here?
If we flashback to General Mark Milley's statements regarding China, it's hard to imagine Biden controlling any decisions in the administration.
Mark Milley held secret calls with China in 2020 undermining Trump
Mark Milley gave the order not to shoot down the Chinese spy balloon
General Mark Milley in 2015 declaring that China is not our enemy: pic.twitter.com/Z00ZcdUdu9
— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) February 5, 2023
Fox News reported:
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin also acknowledged that the order was given to the military on Wednesday and that the military decided to wait.
"On Wednesday, President Biden gave his authorization to take down the surveillance balloon as soon as the mission could be accomplished without undue risk to American lives under the balloon’s path," Lloyd said.
"After careful analysis, U.S. military commanders had determined downing the balloon while over land posed an undue risk to people across a wide area due to the size and altitude of the balloon and its surveillance payload"
Biden has faced intense scrutiny from Republicans, including former President Donald Trump, for waiting days to shoot down the balloon as it hovered across sensitive military locations across the United States.
With the balloon drifting across the entire continental United States, whatever mission it had was likely accomplished.
And the administration failed!
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