(Republicaninformer.com)- On Sunday, Florida Senator Marco Rubio called last week’s flight of the Chinese spy balloon “unprecedented” and suggested that China sent a message to the world when the balloon was permitted to travel across the entire continental United States before it was finally shot down off the East Coast on Saturday.
Appearing on CNN’s “State of the Union” with host Jake Tapper, Rubio said there was “a clear message” in the timing of this balloon flight, noting that it wasn’t a coincidence that the balloon made its journey across US airspace just days before Secretary of State Blinken’s planned visit to China and President Biden’s State of the Union Address.
Rubio told Tapper that Beijing knew the balloon would be spotted and knew the US government would have to respond as it flew over military installations and other sensitive sites.
He said the message China sent to the world was “we can fly a balloon over the airspace of the United States of America, and they won’t be able to do anything about it to stop us.”
Tapper brought up the claim from a Pentagon “source” that China sent spy balloons over the US “at least four other times,” including during the previous administration. He asked Senator Rubio if he believed the claim was true, and if he does, what makes this recent balloon different.
Rubio explained that the primary difference is that this balloon’s flight was “unprecedented” and said whatever source made the claim should have acknowledged how unprecedented it is that the balloon entered US airspace over Idaho, and then flew “over all these sensitive military installations, air force bases, ICBM fields, right across the middle of the country.”
Rubio said it is one thing for a Chinese balloon to “briefly” fly over one part of the country. “But what we saw this week, it’s unprecedented,” Rubio added.
Watch HERE.
