Matt Gaetz calls for Biden to ‘blow up TikTok’ after US military shoots down suspected Chinese spy balloon

A Republican lawmaker is requesting President Biden take motion to eradicate TikTok, an app critics allege offers the Chinese language authorities personal entry to tens of hundreds of thousands of People.

Hours after Biden ordered the USA Air Power to shoot down a suspected Chinese language spy balloon, Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., took to Twitter with a easy instruction: “Now blow up TikTok.”

Biden’s choice to shoot down the balloon got here per week after it was first detected over Alaska on Jan. 25 and days after it was later reported over Montana, Missouri, and the Carolinas.

The social media app has been the purpose of competition as critics say the Chinese language authorities’s management over ByteDance, the corporate that developed TikTok, enable it to regulate what teenagers and others who’ve the app see. This management can lead to providing propaganda, influencing choices and elections, or just distracting the populous, critics say.

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The Air Power finally shot down the balloon Saturday afternoon because it hovered over the Atlantic Ocean, simply off the coast of South Carolina.

China’s authorities launched a blistering assertion after the USA shot down a suspected spy balloon that floated from Montana to the Carolinas, calling the motion an “assault” that was “completely sudden.”

“China strongly disapproves of and protests towards the U.S. assault on a civilian unmanned airship by drive,” China’s International Ministry mentioned in an announcement on Saturday.

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The International Ministry additionally mentioned it repeatedly knowledgeable the U.S. that the suspected spy balloon was “civilian” and posed no danger, saying it largely collected climate information.

Relations between Washington and Beijing have been uneasy in latest days as a suspected Chinese language spy balloon was discovered over the U.S.
(AP Picture/Andy Wong)

President Joe Biden meets nearly with Chinese language President Xi Jinping from the Roosevelt Room of the White Home, as Secretary of State Antony Blinken, proper, listens. 
(AP Picture/Susan Walsh)

Beijing additionally requested the U.S. authorities to reply in a “calm, skilled and restrained method” simply days earlier than the U.S. Air Power shot it down off the coast of South Carolina.

“The Chinese language facet has, after verification, repeatedly knowledgeable the U.S. facet of the civilian nature of the airship and conveyed that its entry into the U.S. on account of drive majeure was completely sudden,” the ministry mentioned. “The Chinese language facet has clearly requested the U.S. facet to correctly deal with the matter in a peaceful, skilled and restrained method.”

The White Home mentioned on Friday Biden wouldn’t shoot down the balloon, regardless of calls from lawmakers and others, because it “doesn’t current a army or bodily menace to individuals on the bottom.”

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China’s overseas ministry mentioned the choice to shoot it down was a “clear overreaction.”

“Beneath such circumstances, the U.S. use of drive is a transparent overreaction and a severe violation of worldwide observe,” the assertion learn. “China will resolutely safeguard the official rights and pursuits of the corporate involved, and reserves the fitting to make additional responses if essential.”

Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., on April 30, 2022 in Newark, Ohio. 
(Drew Angerer/Getty Photos)

Republican lawmakers have additionally criticized Biden’s dealing with of the choice, with many arguing he had loads of alternatives to shoot down the balloon earlier than it made its approach over the continental U.S.

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, mentioned: “Every part concerning the Biden admin’s response to the Chinese language spy balloon reeks of indecision and weak point. They cannot determine whether or not to shoot it down or not.”

Forward of the suspect spy balloon drama, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was scheduled to go to China and would have been probably the most senior official to take action because the begin of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In mild of it, the go to was canceled indefinitely.

“They cannot determine whether or not to go to China or not,” Cruz added.

BIDEN SAYS HE AUTHORIZED PENTAGON DAYS AGO TO SHOOT DOWN CHINESE SPY BALLOON

President Biden claims he gave the order to shoot down the balloon on Wednesday, however that army officers waited till Saturday to take action.

“I ordered the Pentagon to shoot it down on Wednesday as quickly as doable,” Biden advised reporters on Saturday.

US President Joe Biden salutes as he boards Air Power One at Hancock Area Air Nationwide Guard Base in Syracuse, New York, on February 4, 2023. 
(ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP by way of Getty Photos)

US President Joe Biden arrives to board Air Power One at Hancock Area Air Nationwide Guard Base in Syracuse, New York, on February 4, 2023. – President Biden is headed to the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland. 
(ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP by way of Getty Photos)

He added: “I advised them to shoot it down on Wednesday. They mentioned to me let’s look ahead to the most secure place to do it.”

Secretary of Protection Lloyd Austin confirmed the order was given to the army on Wednesday.

“On Wednesday, President Biden gave his authorization to take down the surveillance balloon as quickly because the mission may very well be completed with out undue danger to American lives underneath the balloon’s path,” Lloyd mentioned.

The balloon was shot down on Saturday afternoon, after it traveled over a number of key areas within the U.S., together with army bases containing nuclear missiles. 

Fox Information’ Andrew Mark Miller contributed to this report.