Senator Marco Rubio, who is the Vice Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, appeared on CNN’s “State of the Union” with Jake Tapper. During the show, Rubio was asked about the political messaging surrounding a Chinese spy balloon incident that took place earlier this week.

Rubio stated that there was “no comparison” between this week’s Chinese spy balloon incident and those that encroached on U.S. airspace during the time of former President Donald Trump. The Biden administration has faced criticism for not taking action against the balloon faster, with the administration citing safety concerns as the reason for the delay.

However, Rubio emphasized that the difference lies in the duration of the flight. He said, “What we’ve never seen, what is unprecedented, and whoever the source is at the Department of Defense would have to acknowledge what is unprecedented is a balloon flight that entered over Idaho, flew over Montana, over all these sensitive military installations, air force bases, ICBM fields, right across the middle of the country. That has never happened before, that’s unprecedented.”

Rubio further stated that the existence of these spy balloons is not a mystery to people in the field and that the U.S. has seen Chinese balloons in the past. However, he emphasized that the balloon’s flight across the continental U.S. and over sensitive military installations was an unprecedented occurrence.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)