WH Press Sec Delivers ‘Load of Crap’ When Asked About Reported Incidents Involving Spy Balloons During Trump Admin
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre sparked backlash after attempting to explain how there were reported incidents involving Chinese spy balloons during the Trump administration. During a press briefing…
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre sparked backlash after attempting to explain how there were reported incidents involving Chinese spy balloons during the Trump administration.
During a press briefing Monday, a reporter asked Jean-Pierre, “How is it possible that this administration discovered at least three previous balloons that flew over the U.S. under the previous administration, but Trump officials didn’t know it was happening?”
She replied, “Yeah, so, look, I think that — and we have talked about this before, about how the — when it — when the PRC government surveillance balloons transited the continental U.S. briefly at least three times, as you just mentioned, during the President’s — the prior administration and once that we know of the beginning of this administration’s.”
Jean-Pierre added, “But never for this duration of time, as we know.”
Watch her comments below:
Several Twitter users expressed their frustration with her remarks.
Former Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker wrote, “What a load of crap.”
One tweet suggested it is “like watching a train wreck. You just can’t look away.”
Breitbart News’ Kristina Wong asked, “How could you be reading, and still screw up ‘prior’ and ‘post’ … ?”
President of RealClearPolitics Tom Bevan asked, “Are you telling me there is not a single person in the administration who could do a better job that this?”
Check out more reactions below:
https://twitter.com/OrthoTraumaGuy3/status/1622777058911784960
https://twitter.com/TheAlphaGru/status/1622724177785397248
On Monday, The New York Times reported that the top military commander overseeing North American airspace shared there were some previous incidents involving Chinese spy balloons during former President Donald Trump’s administration but were not discovered at the time.
The Pentagon reportedly learned of them later on.
“I will tell you that we did not detect those threats, and that’s a domain awareness gap,” Gen. Glen D. VanHerck, the commander of the Pentagon’s Northern Command, told the Times.
Several U.S. officials shared one theory is some of the incursions were initially labeled “unidentified aerial phenomena” or U.F.O.s.
Jake Sullivan, the White House’s national security adviser, said the administration has “enhanced our capacity to be able to detect things that the Trump administration was unable to detect.”
After a Chinese spy balloon was detected off the coast of South Carolina over the weekend, a “senior defense official” claimed during a news briefing incursions were known to have happened at least “three times” during the Trump administration.
However, a senior administration official told CNN over the weekend that the three incidents were only made known after Biden took office.
Trump and former Defense Secretary Mark Esper reacted to the statement issued by the senior defense official.
Esper said he was “surprised” by the claim.
He added, “I don’t ever recall somebody coming into my office or reading anything that the Chinese had a surveillance balloon above the United States.”
Trump said on Truth Social reports of Chinese balloons during his administration were “fake disinformation.”