Biden laughs out loud as reporter tries to question him on Chinese spy balloon

President Joe Biden spoke to White House reporters on Monday, laughing out loud at one point when asked about the Chinese spy balloon.

The balloon, which was seemingly allowed to float across the nation unimpeded, was shot down over the Atlantic Ocean on Saturday. Since then, worried Americans have sought answers from the government. Reporters pressed Biden for more answers Monday afternoon.

“Mr. President, does the balloon weaken U.S.-Chinese relations?” asked one reporter.

“No. We’ve made it clear to China what we’re going to do. They understand our position,” he responded. “We’re not going to back off. We did the right thing. And there’s not a question of weakening or strengthening; it’s just the reality.”

Biden also revealed that the Department of Defense has been in contact with the United States’s Central American partners regarding the balloon floating across their land.

“You’ve known about the balloon program for some time. Has it always been your view to shoot down a Chinese spy balloon? Or was it only because it became public?” Biden was asked by another reporter.

“Oh, no. It was always my position. Once it came over the Uni- — into the United States from Canada, I told the Defense Department I wanted to shoot it down as soon as it was appropriate,” the president said. “They concluded — they concluded we should not shoot it down over land, it was not a serious threat, and we should wait until it got across the water.”

An additional reporter would ask Biden why China “would commit such a brazen act of floating across the entire continental United States” which prompted a laugh from the leader.

“They’re the Chinese government,” he chuckled, leaving it at that and moving on to the next question.

A few moments later, Biden was asked whether we can trust China to give us the truth on important matters.

“If you can’t trust China on the balloon, can we trust it on other things, such as its official COVID count in China? Can you trust it on other things now?”

“The question of the balloon and attempting to spy on the United States is something that’s anticipated from China,” Biden explained. “The question is whether or not — when we asked China what they’re doing, they didn’t deny they had the balloon over — they just denied what it was.”

“And it’s not a question of trusting China, it’s a question of deciding where we should work together and where we have opposition,” he continued.

Sierra Marlee

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