OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Former Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe, who served in the Trump administration, is warning that President Joe Biden is now America’s “greatest threat” during an interview with Fox News host Mark Levin.
“So my question to you is, what has Joe Biden done to America’s national security?” host Mark Levin asked.
“Well, Mark, to your point, first on Afghanistan, I hope that it’s just something that has an impact for decades, I hope it’s not centuries. It’s the most profound loss for the United States certainly in our lifetime,” Ratcliffe began, reflecting on his time as the director of National Intelligence and information that he was partial to.
“But one of my concerns there, and this goes to your larger question about what has Joe Biden done to our national security, he has very clearly harmed it, but in so many respects beyond Afghanistan. But this most recent, most painful, most colossal, epic failure in Afghanistan has literally breathed life into the radical Islamic terrorist movement not just in Afghanistan but around the world. We won’t know the consequences of how bad they really are for a long, long time to come, who he has inspired, and what groups morph out of what they see as a victory of epic proportions over the great Satan, the United States,” Ratcliffe added.
“So, that is just part of it. But to your larger question, Mark, you know, I wrote an article as the Director of National Intelligence saying that China was our number one national security threat, I did that as I was walking out the door based on the fact that I’m the person who saw more intelligence than anyone else in the country over the last year and China very much is that existential threat to our country,” he said.
“But if I had to write that op-ed today, I would tell you that I think the greatest national security threat, at least in the short-term, is Joe Biden and our national security apparatus. And the reason I say that I am not trying to be glib or hyperbolic, but Mark, they have literally gotten everything wrong for 8 straight months with respect to China, Russia, Iran, and throughout the Middle East, now including Afghanistan, it goes on and on,” he continued.
WATCH:
This comes as multiple “objects” have been identified and shot down in U.S. airspace in recent weeks.
A report on Sunday noted that two balloon-like objects shot down by U.S. fighter aircraft over Alaska and Canada over the weekend were both carrying what was described as a “payload” and were smaller than the Chinese spy airship shot down a little more than a week ago off the coast of South Carolina.
The first object was downed over Alaska on Friday, according to the report, followed by another shootdown on Saturday in Canadian airspace.
According to Fox News, “details regarding the object that was flying through Canadian airspace were scarce throughout the weekend, but U.S. officials now describe it as a ‘small metallic balloon with a tethered payload,'” a U.S. official said.
According to the Washington Post, the object shot down on Friday was “more cylindrical and described as a type of airship.” In addition, according to CNN, another object was shot down over Lake Huron on Sunday, but details on that incident are scarce.
Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are looking for more answers from the Biden administration regarding the sudden uptick in these kinds of incidents.
“I have real concerns about why the administration is not being more forthcoming with everything that it knows,” Rep. Jim Hines of Connecticut, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, told NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
“I do hope that very soon, the administration has a lot more information for all of us on what’s going on,” Hines added.
