Author and political adviser Dick Morris told Newsmax Friday that President Joe Biden's order to immediately shoot down an unknown aircraft over U.S. airspace in Alaska shows the "defects" in his foreign policy after letting a high-altitude Chinese balloon cross the entire country last week before acting.
"Obviously what happened was that Biden took a lot of flak over failing to respond quickly to that [Chinese] balloon," Morris said on "American Agenda." "His polls reflected it, and now a week later, he has a chance for a do-over and they sure as hell shot this down. This is obviously a political reaction. I mean, what else could it be?"
Pentagon officials said that the unidentified "high-altitude airborne object," the size of a small car, was detected by ground radar over U.S. territorial waters off the Alaskan coast Friday.
In response, Biden ordered it shot down, which U.S. Air Force fighters successfully did around 1:45 p.m.
The reason for immediately shooting the aircraft down, according to the Pentagon official, was that flying at 40,000 feet represented a potential threat to civilian aircraft.
He told reporters that recovery efforts were underway by the Northern Command in the frozen waters where the aircraft went down, and that no further details about the aircraft are available.
Retired Lt. Col. Tony Shaffer, who joined Morris on the broadcast, said the Pentagon did not share a lot of information about the aircraft, which made him curious, and he believes China is probably behind it.
"Clearly these things are all very nuanced language, very carefully stated," Shaffer said. "You can tell the Pentagon is not in charge of its own destiny.
"We said on the air, on this network, that we would see more provocations very quickly from China [after downing the balloon last Saturday]. We don't know what this is from China, but I'm going on the record right now, that we will find that China was behind this one as well."
Morris said that the quick action this time compared to the lack of action with the balloon last week until after it crossed the entire United States shows where Biden is "defective" in his foreign policy.
"I think the important point for us, as Americans approaching an election next year, is to understand that in foreign policy, you have the truest indication of the character personality and incompetence of the president," Morris said. "I think it's very important and worth noting that he did not shoot down the first one for a week.
"He didn't know what the hell he was going to do. And this one he shot from the hip, as it were, to make up for that, and I think that you're dealing with a defect in the president's decision making both times, waiting a week and shooting from the hip this time."
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