{"id":1836667,"date":"2023-02-06T10:20:58","date_gmt":"2023-02-06T15:20:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1836667"},"modified":"2023-02-06T10:24:30","modified_gmt":"2023-02-06T15:24:30","slug":"sen-rubio-clear-message-embedded-in-spy-balloon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/sen-rubio-clear-message-embedded-in-spy-balloon\/","title":{"rendered":"Sen. Rubio: \u201cClear Message\u201d Embedded in Spy Balloon"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">16<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fsen-rubio-clear-message-embedded-in-spy-balloon%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1836667&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47-->\n<div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/dw-wp-production.imgix.net\/2023\/02\/MR-scaled.jpg?w=1200&#038;h=800&#038;ixlib=react-9.3.0\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" alt=\"image\"   style=\"display:none\"><\/div>\n<p>On Sunday, Senator Marco Rubio (R.FL.) lashed out at President Joe Biden for his controversial handling the Chinese spy balloon which flew over the U.S. over the last few days.<\/p>\n<p>Rubio told CNN\u2019s Jake Tapper on \u201cState of the Union\u201d that the American people need answers about why it took the administration so long to disclose the spy balloon\u2019s presence over U.S. territory.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think what\u2019s embedded here is a clear message. It\u2019s not a coincidence that this happens leading up to the State of the Union address, leading up to [Secretary of State Antony] Blinken\u2019s visit to China,\u201d Rubio said. \u201cThe Chinese knew that this was going to be spotted. They knew that we were going to have to react to it. They flew it over military installations and sensitive sites across \u2014 right across the middle. I mean, look at the flight path of this thing. It\u2019s a diagonal shot right through the middle of the continental United States.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd the message embedded in this to the world is, we can fly a balloon over airspace of the United States of America, and you won\u2019t be able to do anything about it to stop us,\u201d He concluded. \u201cThey calculated this carefully with a message embedded in it. And I think that\u2019s the part we can\u2019t forget here. It\u2019s not just the balloon. It\u2019s the message to try to send the world that America \u2014 we can do whatever we want, and America can\u2019t stop us.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<p><em>TAPPER: Hello, STATE OF THE UNION. I\u2019m Jake Tapper.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Many Republicans reacted with outrage after President Biden waited for the suspected Chinese spy balloon to leave the continental United States before shooting it down, for safety reasons, they said, at the Pentagon\u2019s guidance.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>The vice chair of Senate Intelligence Committee, Republican senator Marco Rubio of Florida, will be joining us.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>We are so grateful for your presence, Senator.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>You have also stated that President Biden should&#8217;ve shot the balloon down sooner. The defense secretary, Lloyd Austin, said \u2014 quote \u2014 \u201cAfter careful analysis, U.S. military commanders had determined to downing the balloon while over land posed an undue risk to people across a wide area due to the size and altitude of the balloon and its surveillance payload.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>And, as you heard Secretary Buttigieg just a few minutes ago said that the debris field after the balloon was shot down was about seven miles\u2019 long.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Should President Biden have ordered it to be shot down regardless of this risk?<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>SEN. MARCO RUBIO R-FL: Yes, but not without regard for the risk.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>These things can be tracked. It would be great if you could track a slow-moving balloon, which clearly points to this direction as shown by its trajectory. I think that\u2019s one of the things we will learn this week, is how soon, how late into January did they already know that there\u2019s this high-altitude balloon and what its trajectory was and where it was headed, and why didn\u2019t they take action at that time?<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>That\u2019s number one. The other thing we need to understand and learn about this is why it took so long to reveal it to the American public. I don\u2019t think the trajectory of where this balloon was going was a mystery. I think, pretty early on, they probably \u2014 because of the prevailing winds, because of the direction that it was headed, I think it was pretty clear that this thing was going to enter the Northwest in Montana, in Idaho, move its way down the Midwest and exit the Eastern Seaboard just off the Carolinas.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>I mean, that\u2019s an unprecedented flight path. And why did it wait until Wednesday to notify \u2014 or Thursday to talk about it the American people, knowing people were going to be seeing this thing?<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>TAPPER: Do you know, as vice-chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee? Have the U.S. retrieved any parts from the Chinese spy ballon? Has the \u2014 and did the monitoring of the balloon during its journey, as far as you know, yield any worthwhile information for the U.S.?<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>RUBIO: Well, we won\u2019t know that until we get to a secure setting this week in Washington. And, probably, most of that is something we won\u2019t be able to disclose in any great detail, other than to say this.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>And that is that they\u2019re going to try to recover this. Apparently, it\u2019s in shallow waters. We&#8217;ll see how they recover. But I don\u2019t think the technology or the existence of these things is a great mystery. I think what\u2019s embedded here is a clear message. It\u2019s not a coincidence that this happens leading up to the State of the Union address, leading up to Blinken\u2019s visit to China.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>This was what the Chinese predicted. They knew we would have to respond. They flew it over military installations and sensitive sites across \u2014 right across the middle. This is the flight path. It\u2019s a diagonal shot right through the middle of the continental United States.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>And the message embedded in this to the world is, we can fly a balloon over airspace of the United States of America, and you won\u2019t be able to do anything about it to stop us. With a message embedded into it, they carefully calculated this. And I think that\u2019s the part we can\u2019t forget here. It\u2019s not just the balloon.It\u2019s the message to try to send the world that America \u2014 we can do whatever we want, and America can\u2019t stop us.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>TAPPER: What information did the spy balloon possibly gather as it traveled?<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>I know, it\u2019s over \u2014 the fear is that it was over some U.S. military installations. I\u2019m also wondering if infrastructure was probably part of the surveillance task at hand.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>RUBIO: Well, again, it would be speculation, other than to tell you that those things usually at that altitude, and what they\u2019re doing is probably trying to collect on signals, on electronic information that\u2019s transiting that they can pick up on.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>They have many other options. And that\u2019s why I go back to the whole point of the message. China might find other ways to get the same balloon. It&#8217;s possible that I am wrong. There may be some unique attributes to it that I\u2019m \u2014 that I\u2019m not aware of yet, but we will learn more about this week.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>But I think, more than anything else, beyond just the ability to collect information, it is the ability to send a clear message, and that is that we have the ability to do this, and America can\u2019t do anything about it. If they\u2019re not going to be able to stop a balloon from flying over U.S. airspace, how is America going to come to your aid if we invade Taiwan or take land from India or take islands from the Philippines and Japan? The fact they would do it is enough to make State of<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>the Union, leading up to what was then Blinken\u2019s scheduled visit, none of that is a coincidence. This is why we must understand that there was a message behind it.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>TAPPER: But you \u2014 so you think that \u2014 first of all, I guess there are two parts to a question I have following up on that.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>One is that the Pentagon states they know of at least four additional instances of this happening by the Chinese, including once during the Biden Administration and three times under the Trump administration. It seems to be you\u2019re saying \u2014 oh, you\u2019re saying, no, that\u2019s not true?<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>But, in any case, is the \u2014 what\u2019s the difference?<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>RUBIO: No. No, what I\u2019m saying \u2014 OK.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>This is the difference. Were we aware that these balloons were used by the Chinese in the past? Yes. I think there\u2019s even been Twitter pictures of it flying at one point off the coast of the U.S. down south somewhere. People in the field know that there are balloons.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Unprecedented, something we have not seen before, and whoever the source at Department of Defense would have had to acknowledge it, is a balloon-flight that entered Idaho and flew across Montana, over all of these sensitive military installations and air force bases, ICBM field, and other areas of the country.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>It has never been done before. This is unprecedented. That it flew briefly over some part of the U.S. or continental U.S., that\u2019s one thing. But what we saw this week, it\u2019s unprecedented. And that\u2019s why everyone\u2019s reacting the way they\u2019re reacting. This has never happened before.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>This is not a comparison to any other events that have taken place up until this point.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>TAPPER: Your colleague and friend Republican Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina accused President Biden of \u2014 quote \u2014 \u201cdereliction of duty\u201d By allowing the Chinese spy ball to fly over the U.S.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>That\u2019s a pretty strong accusation. Are you in agreement?<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>RUBIO: I believe the dereliction begins with this.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Why not, on Tuesday or Wednesday \u2014 you know people are going to see this. At some point, you\u2019re going to have to disclose it. And they probably didn\u2019t want to, because they didn\u2019t want to have their hand forced on canceling this Blinken visit. And so they didn\u2019t \u2014 so they didn\u2019t want to have to talk about it.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>But why didn\u2019t the president go on television? He has the ability to convene the country in cameras, and basically explain what we\u2019re dealing with here and why he\u2019s made the decisions he\u2019s making and what they intend to do. I don\u2019t understand, once they went public with it, knowing the amount of interest this was going to generate, presidents have the ability to go before camera, go before the nation and basically explain these things early on.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>And his failure to do so is \u2014 I don\u2019t understand that. I don\u2019t understand why he wouldn\u2019t do that. This is the beginning dereliction. We must also act quickly to address these issues. I think that\u2019s part of the \u2014 one of the things the Chinese are trying to message.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>And that is, the U.S. had to see this coming and decided they couldn\u2019t or wouldn\u2019t do anything about it early on, and now had to wait until this thing went across the middle of the country. What are we going do next time it happens? Is it possible to let it fly through again and then shoot it down when it reaches the East Coast?<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>These are questions that need to be answered by the White House. And I don\u2019t think these are partisan claims I\u2019m making. There would be broad agreement on the need for us to agree upon a policy in this area.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>TAPPER<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>What other consequences could there be now for the Chinese government?<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>RUBIO: Well, I think the first consequence has to be \u2014 we have to decide, what are we going to do the next time one of these things heads this way? Because I don\u2019t think it\u2019ll be the last time. You will probably see it again.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Beyond consequences, I\u2019m not sure there should be a direct individual consequence. To anyone who is unsure, I believe the U.S.-China relationship is the most important. And that is, we are now \u2014 China has been for some time and will be the primary strategic adversary of the United States.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>And we should be focused on it, because what they\u2019re trying to do is create a world in which they are the most powerful nation, and the United States is a great power in decline. That is \u2014 that is what they believe to be the case. They are working on it.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>And we have to determine whether we\u2019re going to allow the world to head in that direction or not. And then there\u2019s all sorts of things we need to do, from how we\u2019re postured militarily in the Indo-Pacific, all the way to what kind of companies do we allow to operate in the United States and spy on us, because we have invited them in?<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Because they\u2019re in our infrastructure, in our telecommunications infrastructure, because they\u2019re buying land, because they\u2019re buying farmland, because \u2014 because they\u2019re wiping out key industrial capabilities of this country. There\u2019s all kinds of things that need to be discussed when it comes to China, because this is the issue of the 21st century. TAPPER &#8211; The Chinese government stated that, now that the U.S. balloon has been shut down, they are free to employ any means necessary to address similar situations.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>There\u2019s even talk in \u201cThe Global Times,\u201d This is basically a Chinese mouthpiece. They might shoot down U.S. civilian apparatuses if they set a dangerous precedent.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>What do you think of all this? Are you \u2014 are you fearful at all of this escalating?<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>RUBIO: Listen, if we were to fly anything over China, they\u2019re going to shoot it down. They\u2019re going to shoot it down, and they\u2019re going to hold up \u2014 and they\u2019re going to take pictures of it, and they\u2019re going to go bonkers about it.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>So I don\u2019t know what statement they\u2019re making. You can\u2019t \u2014 you can\u2019t fly anything over China now anyway. I mean, if we were to do that, if we were to fly a balloon over China \u2014 if the Goodyear Blimp flew over China, they\u2019d shoot it down. So, it\u2019s a \u2014 it\u2019s a \u2014 it\u2019s what they do over there. It\u2019s silly talk.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Bottom line is, I think that\u2019s \u2014 that\u2019s what \u2014 that\u2019s what we should expect anyways.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>TAPPER : All right, Senator Marco Rubio from Florida, vice-chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee. Thank you for joining us today.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>I really appreciate it, sir.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>RUBIO &#8211; Thank you.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On Sunday, Senator Marco Rubio (R.FL.) lashed out at President Joe Biden for his controversial handling the Chinese spy balloon which flew over the U.S. over the last few days. Rubio told CNN\u2019s Jake Tapper on \u201cState of the Union\u201d that the American people need answers about why it took the administration so long to &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1836105,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[547],"tags":[17453,11791,17697,5776,5438,7025,6893],"class_list":["post-1836667","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-bongino-report","tag-balloon","tag-clear","tag-embedded","tag-message","tag-rubio","tag-sen","tag-spy"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1836667","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1836667"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1836667\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1836105"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1836667"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1836667"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1836667"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}