Several Republicans are criticizing the Biden administration for not acting sooner to shoot down a Chinese spy balloon that was flying over the US for days, claiming that no other president, including Donald Trump, would allow it to happen.
“Would Trump have let China fly a spy balloon over our country?” Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) wrote on Twitter. “Would Reagan? JFK? Truman? No, no, and no.”
But, senior Pentagon officials say similar Chinese balloons have crossed into the US before, including at least three times during the Trump administration and once that they know about earlier in the Biden administration, according to the Associated Press.
The Biden administration delayed shooting down the balloon due to safety concerns for civilians. They were worried that the balloon— which was about the size of three school buses and flying at about 60,000 ft— would create a large debris field and could result in possible harm to American lives and property.
The balloon was shot down Saturday off the coast of South Carolina. US officials said the balloon poses little threat in terms of what intelligence it might gather.
The public was not made aware of the several times Chinese spy balloons entered the US during the Trump administration and it is not clear if any of the balloons were shot down.
