The "feckless" Biden administration is not projecting the strength needed to ward off China's actions, Rep. Andy Ogles told Newsmax on Friday.
"It was China that sent a reconnaissance balloon across our nation, violating our airspace," the Tennessee Republican told Newsmax's "Wake Up America." "It's China that's pumping fentanyl into our country by way of the Mexican cartels. It's China that's the aggressor here, not the United States, and quite frankly, under this administration, we rolled over and played dead."
But, he said if former President Donald Trump was still in office "we wouldn't be having these problems with China. We most likely wouldn't be having these problems with [Russian President Vladimir] Putin in Ukraine."
President Joe Biden's administration, though, "is not leading this country, and they're certainly not leading the world and projecting strength, which is again why we saw this balloon across our country," said Ogles.
His comments come after Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang's warnings this week that Beijing and Washington are on a course for "conflict and confrontation" if the U.S. doesn't change its actions.
When asked if Qin's threats could be connected with growing reports that the COVID-19 pandemic started with a leak from the Wuhan Institute of Virology, Ogles said that the American people "have known it in their gut that the coronavirus is the China virus."
"It escaped from a lab," he said. "Whether that was intentional or not is to be determined, but at the end of the day, they covered it up and by doing so, they unleashed it on the world and this is their fault. The Americans who suffered and died are their fault."
The White House, though, "is trying to sweep these facts under the rug," said Ogles.
The congressman also spoke out against Biden's proposed 10-year budget plan that would cut deficits by $2.9 trillion over the next decade while taxing the wealthy to help fund programs for the middle class, older adults, and families.
"In Congress, we've had enough of this administration," he added. "We've had enough of this fairy tale budget. We have a country in crisis, and this administration is playing games with the math."
Ogles said he also believes the American people are "fed up" and 2024 will be "a bellwether election."
"As Republicans, we've got to do a good job of recruiting good candidates that deliver a good message," he said. "At the end of the day, you know you can't sustain that type of spending that this administration is proposing and think that we're going to have a sovereign nation in a decade. You can't think that our children, our grandchildren are going to have a future with these levels of spending. "
Ogles added that House Republicans will hold a press conference on Friday, and he expects a budget counterproposal to be released "real soon."
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