Pompeo described it as 'trial balloon,' adding that China now knows 'the Biden administration won't do a darn thing about it.'
The moment the spy balloon was hit by an F-22 fighter jet off the coast of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina on February 4, 2023. Biden said he instructed the Pentagon to shoot it down"as soon as possible" when he was briefed on it on Wednesday, February 1.Asked why the balloon wasn't shot down sooner, Pompeo said:"I can't articulate why they would not have immediately taken down this threat.
He suspected that"we would have picked it up" as soon as it penetrated the Air Defense Identification Zone—an area in which identity checks for aircraft are required and which extends from the Alaskan coast into the Bering Sea towards Russia and China. "This isn't something small coming across [the Pacific]; it's not even a fast mover," Pompeo said."This is going slow and it is big."
Pompeo also touted his new book, Never Give An Inch: Fighting For The America I Love, which came out in January and has been seen by many as a potential springboard into a presidential run for the 2024 election. He previously toldNewsweek