It looks as if President Joe Biden will "brush past" the issue of the Chinese spy balloon that was shot down off the South Carolina coast last Saturday, since he is trying to mend the United States' relationship with China, former National Security Council chief of staff Fred Fleitz said on Newsmax Saturday.
"At the end of the day, as angry as many Americans are in Congress, it looks like Joe Biden is going to brush past this and try to continue to restore relations with the Chinese and not do anything to them in response," Fleitz, the vice chairman of the America First Policy Institute Center for American Security, commented to Newsmax's "Wake Up America."
Meanwhile, the United States still must determine the origins and purpose of a smaller unidentified object shot down over Alaska Friday, said Fleitz.
"It was smaller and not maneuverable and at a lower altitude, and some experts are wondering whether maybe it was a weather balloon," he said. "Maybe it was not Chinese."
The object, said to be the size of a small car, was shot down over northern Alaska, and Fleitz said that if it was a spy balloon, he is glad it was shot down.
"I'd like to know what the writing was on the balloon," said Fleitz. "China has not responded to any attempt by the U.S. to reach out."
He added that he thinks it was a "real mistake" not to talk to China before shooting down its giant spy balloon over the United States last week. But then again, he said, "this administration has mishandled diplomacy with China over the last two years."
He added that the object that's been shot down over Alaska may well be a "legitimate" weather balloon.
"There are treaties that allow nations to do this; and if we shot one down that's covered by one of these treaties, we're facing a whole new disaster in foreign policy for this country."
Fleitz also commented on the announcement that White House Communications Director Kate Bedingfield has resigned, saying that while he wishes it were Vice President Kamala Harris who was leaving, jobs like Bedingfield's are "subject to very high burnout rates."
"We know a lot of people who work in Democratic administrations, they want to cash in," said Fleitz. "I imagine people like Bedingfield are wondering whether Joe Biden will be president in 2025. So this is the time to leave, get some very highly paid corporate job and use her access to get a high salary. I think that's what's going on here."
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Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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