U.S. Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-TN) just argued that the administration of President Joe Biden place America's national security in danger by disclosing that Chinese spy balloons were undetected by the former administration of President Donald Trump.
Hagerty did so on Friday during an appearance on Fox Business's Maria Bartiromo’s Wall Street.
Hagerty's statements regard an admission that the Biden administration made during the Chinese spy balloon incident.
This is the incident in which the administration decided to allow a Chinese surveillance balloon to float all the way across of the United States - including over military assets - before finally deciding to shoot the balloon down over the Atlantic Ocean. Many experts have argued that this was far too little, far too late.
But, while the Biden administration was facing significant criticism for its handling of the situation, the administration tried to deflect some of this criticism away by revealing that Chinese spy balloons surveilled the United States during the administration of Trump.
Subsequent reporting indicated that this fact was not discovered until after Trump left office.
It was this series of events that Haggerty discussed with Bartiromo.
After Bartiromo highlighted the Biden administration's controversial handling of the Chinese spy balloon situation, Haggerty proceeded to explain what really "shocked" him.
"I’ll tell you what else shocked me," Haggerty said, "to hear this Pentagon — ‘a senior official’ from the Pentagon, an unnamed official, coming out and trying to deflect blame, to say that this had happened in the Trump administration."
Haggerty went on to explain exactly why this is not only shocking but problematic.
"Again, if it did happen, it went undetected," Haggerty said. "This is seriously classified information."
"It reveals a lack of capability that should have never been used in that manner," Haggerty continued. "Using classified information in that manner for political purposes, again, reflects this administration’s weakness and their tendency just to look to political excuses and to deflection."
The American public, time and again, has witnessed the administration of President Biden attempt to place the blame for its own shortcomings on Trump and his administration. So, it was not that surprising to see Biden using this strategy once again with the Chinese spy balloon situation.
But, as Haggerty points out, this time, the blame Trump strategy was particularly problematic as it literally revealed to the world that a Chinese spy balloon managed to infiltrate U.S. airspace undetected.
