GOP’s attempts to hit Biden on China fall flat in light of Trump-era balloons

Republican attempts to make Biden look weak don’t hold up when three balloons came into US airspace during Trump’s presidency

(AP)

Republicans hoped to make hay out of President Joe Biden’s response to the Chinese surveillance ballon over the weekend.

Newly minted Ohio Senator JD Vance tweeted a picture of himself with a military-style rifle looking up toward the sky.

Senator Marco Rubio, the vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, made the rounds on the Sunday shows, faulting the president for not informing the public about it because they didn’t want it to get in the way of Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s planned meeting with China. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said “the Biden Administration reacted at first too indecisively and then too late.”

China’s use of surveillance balloons does indeed prompt concern, specifically since it targeted “sensitive military sites” and the People’s Republican of China reportedly had previously operated this program. National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said China has “tried to improve in terms of capability, range [and] communications.” An FBI lab will investigate the debris that fell on the east coast.

Republicans ideally would love to use the moment to portray the Biden administration as weak on China, especially ahead of the president’s State of the Union address. Mr McConnell, for his part, said he hoped that the threat would be reflected in Mr Biden’s proposed budget request.

But the Biden White House threw a wrench in their ability to do so when officials revealed that three surveillance balloons travelled over US airspace during Donald Trump’s presidency.

Mr Trump has denied the claims, saying that “China had too much respect for ‘TRUMP’ for this to have happened.” Similarly, on ABC’sThis Week, Jonathan Karl noted after Mr Rubio’s critiques that ballons had moved through airspace during the former president’s tenure.

Mr Biden’s administration, for its part, has noted that the Trump administration did not even know the balloons were in US airspace during its tenure and offered to brief officials about the matter.

These revelations will likely not deter Republicans from criticising the Biden administration much in the same way that former vice president Mike Pence having classified documents did not deter them from criticising Mr Biden on that front. But it does largely neuter their effectiveness.