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We officially have an absurd debate over Chinese surveillance balloon toughness. Yes, this is now a thing. A slew of Republicans today lashed out at President Biden for not shooting down the balloon just as the Pentagon carried out his orders to do so. The balloon was shot down by an F-22 firing a sidewinder missile just off the coast of South Carolina.
This was followed by new claims that President Trump never would have allowed a Chinese balloon into U.S. airspace at all. Rep. Joe Wilson, a notorious goober who represents a district in South Carolina, declared: “The catastrophic Chinese Spy Balloon spectacle clearly threatened American families from Alaska to my home community in South Carolina and confirms President Biden and Vice President Harris should resign.”
But according to a Pentagon press release out this afternoon, Chinese surveillance balloons entered U.S. airspace at least three times during Trump’s presidency. He not only didn’t shoot them down, he also, it would seem, kept it a secret.