Rep. Hageman to Newsmax: Biden Won't 'Protect US Sovereignty'

Rep. Harriet Hageman, R-Wyo., told Newsmax on Saturday that the breach of U.S. airspace by two unidentified high-altitude aircraft show the rest of the world that President Joe Biden is not willing to "do what it takes" to protect national sovereignty.

"I think what we're seeing is the results of a very weakened administration," Hageman said during "Saturday Report." 

"The reality is that the on the world stage, Joe Biden is not seen as someone who's willing to do what it takes to protect American sovereignty."

Biden waited eight days before ordering the military to shoot down a Chinese high-altitude balloon as it traversed the continental United States.

White House and Pentagon officials confirmed Friday that a second unidentified aircraft was shot down in U.S. airspace off the coast of Alaska Friday afternoon.

"We don't know who owns this object," said White House spokesperson John Kirby, adding that it was unclear where it began its flight, according to Reuters.

Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder said during a Pentagon briefing for reporters that a U.S. F-22 fired a sidewinder missile at the unidentified craft, flying at around 40,000 feet, taking it down over the frozen waters.

"Whether this particular object comes from China or elsewhere, it just simply shows that there is an enormous threat out there, and I don't think the Biden administration necessarily takes this step seriously," Hageman said Saturday.

"I don't trust this administration in terms of the policies that they're implementing, and in terms of the information that they're providing to the American public. We need more information. We need them to come clean, and we actually need a briefing on what data they have related to both of these incursions."

While the administration said last week that it feared damage and potential casualties on the ground as the reason it didn’t shoot the Chinese balloon down sooner, it said Friday that the lower altitude of the second aircraft posed a threat to civilian air travel, leading to a quicker decision to take it out. 

"In this particular case, it was determined that this posed a reasonable threat to air traffic," Ryder said during his briefing Friday.