CNN’s Jake Tapper grilled Biden Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg on Sunday about the administration’s controversial handling of the Chinese spy balloon that traversed across the U.S. over the last several days.
Buttigieg made the remarks during an interview broadcast on CNN’s “State of the Union.” Tapper wanted to know why the spy balloon was not shot down nearly two weeks ago when it was first detected over Alaskan air space.
Buttigieg responded by claiming that it was about safety.
“Is it acceptable that there were eight days that the spy balloon was over the United States, then Canada, then again over the United States, from Idaho, Montana, all the way through the Carolinas for day after day?” Tapper asked.
Buttigieg responded, “In terms of how to handle it, that’s something that was done based on assessment of the risks, making sure that there was no risks that outweighed the risks in terms of any damage that would come, and it was handled…
