Defense officials say the balloon does not pose a military or physical threat, and shooting it down could injure civilians.
Republicans are lashing out at President Joe Biden, urging him to shoot down what is believed to be a Chinese spy balloon that has been spotted in U.S. airspace, a move that would be dangerous for both civilians and diplomacy.
He noted that there had been similar balloons over the past several years, but the United States has taken steps to make sure they were unable to collect sensitive information. A senior defense official also told the AP that the balloon has “limited” value in providing China with intel that it couldn’t collect via other means.
But by the wee hours of Friday, Republicans were already demanding a more drastic approach: shooting the balloon out of the sky. They were led by Donald Trump, who insisted on Truth Social the U.S. should “SHOOT DOWN THE BALLOON!”
https://twitter.com/RepMTG/status/1621294190041636864?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1621294190041636864%7Ctwgr%5Ea01a4dfbb62e659d21375927f5ff6c8ce83bf80b%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fnewrepublic.com%2Fpost%2F170391%2Frepublicans-response-reported-chinese-spy-balloon
I’m told there’s a balloon that needs to be taken care of? pic.twitter.com/k33onkFL3a
— Kari Lake (@KariLake) February 3, 2023