PUSHING BACK

Romney Breaks With Top Republicans, Insists Chinese Balloon Crisis Was ‘Skillfully’ Handled

Many of his fellow Republicans have criticized Biden and defense officials for waiting to shoot the surveillance balloon over the Atlantic.

In a break from major Republican players, Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) told CNN Thursday the U.S. made the right call in waiting to shoot down the Chinese surveillance balloon until it was over the Atlantic Ocean Saturday. “Was everything done 100 percent correctly? I can’t imagine that would be the case of almost anything we do. But I came away more confident,” Romney told CNN’s Chief Congressional Correspondent Manu Raju. “I believe that the administration, the president, our military and intelligence agencies, acted skillfully and with care. At the same time, their capabilities are extraordinarily impressive.” U.S. defense officials waited to shoot the balloon to prevent falling debris from hurting people on the ground, Biden told reporters last week. Meanwhile, Romney’s fellow Republicans are slamming Biden for not shooting down the balloon sooner, with Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) telling CNN the U.S. should have never let the surveillance mechanism even enter the country.