Mark Esper calls for ‘clear’ message in response to ‘brazen act’ of Chinese balloon
Brady Knox
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Former Defense Secretary Mark Esper floated shooting down the Chinese spy balloon moving across the country, but only after attempting to capture it.
The Trump appointee recommended first trying to bring the object down intact so U.S. intelligence could obtain the technology and study its capabilities.
“My interest would be not necessarily in shooting it down but bringing it down so we can capture the equipment and exactly what they’re doing. Are they taking pictures? Are they intercepting signals?” he told Kaitlan Collins on CNN This Morning. “It will tell us a lot about what they’re trying to do, what they’re trying to learn, and what their capability is of doing that.”
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“Now failing that, I would definitely shoot it down, provided there is not risk to people on the ground,” he added.
He also said that he was “surprised” by the incident, calling it a “brazen act” by the Chinese.
“To me, this is a brazen act, and so, at the political level, we have to push back. We have to defend American sovereignty, and we have to make clear to the Chinese that we’re not going to tolerate this,” he said.
His former boss, former President Donald Trump, advocated for shooting down the balloon immediately.
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“SHOOT DOWN THE BALLOON!” he wrote on Truth Social.
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