Former Trump administration National Security Adviser John Bolton said Tuesday on CNN’s “Erin Burnett OutFront” that there was “no excuse” for the Biden administration’s delay in shooting down the Chinese spy balloon.
Bolton said, “I’m very concerned across the board. Certainly, the balloon surveillance issue is in the forefront of the news, but about Chinese efforts across the board to gain intelligence, not just about the U.S. government, not just about our military capabilities but of all aspects of American life.”
He continued, “Look, the administration is shattering its credibility every time it puts another spokesman out to talk about what’s happened over the past couple of weeks. I mean, on the specific question: What happened in the Trump administration, I count four different stories. First, it was detected, then it wasn’t detected, but it was assessed incorrectly, and I mean, it just keeps going back and forth.”
He added, “They knew it was from China from the beginning. There is no excuse not to have shot that balloon down before it crossed into America.”
Bolton concluded, “I would argue it demonstrated hostile intent from the moment we knew it came from China. Did we make an effort to call the Chinese and say, one of your balloons is heading toward us? If you have control of that balloon, turn it around, or we’re going to shoot it down. Did we do that or just sit there with our thumb in our mouth, watching it cross into American territory? I think this is very serious.”
Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN
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