The Department of Defense waited so long to address several Chinese spy balloons floating over and near the United States, because President Joe Biden wants to keep the Chinese Communist Party happy, former Acting Director of National Intelligence Ric Grenell told Newsmax on Saturday.
"Biden values consensus with the Chinese," Grenell told "Saturday Agenda." "He values a relationship with the Chinese [that they] are happy with us, they're not angry with us, they're not tweeting bad things.
"He is maximizing this idea [to] keep the Chinese happy."
The U.S. military Saturday shot down the balloon off the Carolina coast on orders from Biden after it traversed sensitive military sites across North America, the latest flashpoint in tensions between Washington and Beijing.
Biden wanted the balloon downed Wednesday but was advised that the best time for the operation would be when it was over water, U.S. officials said. Military officials determined that bringing it down over land from an altitude of 60,000 feet would pose an undue risk to people on the ground.
But for Grenell said he did not have confidence "in what the Biden administration is doing."
"They've already allowed a collection of data across our country," Grenell said. "This balloon can maneuver. It doesn't just float. It actually can go where it wants to go. It's gone over a several military bases. It's clearly collecting information."
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