Rubio Issues Stark Warning Over Chinese Balloon

Florida Senator Marco Rubio (R) has issued a stark warning about the Chinese balloon controversy. President Joe Biden (D) received criticism over his lax response to the balloon, but he ultimately ordered the U.S. military to shoot it down over the weekend.

Americans looked up to the sky as a balloon hovered over the country. The balloon, a Chinese spy mechanism, caused an uproar as Republicans questioned why the president wouldn't call for it to be shot down. Ultimately, the balloon was shot down, but now lawmakers are discussing what the fiasco means for the United States.

Senator Rubio, a vocal critic of the Chinese Communist Party, expressed that "China believes America is a weakened superpower with a reputation of strength that no longer holds true," adding that China's "message will now be that if Biden wouldn’t even shoot down a balloon, he isn’t going to do jack if China takes territory from India or Japan or invades Taiwan."

On CNN's State of the Union, Rubio was interviewed concerning the balloon, and the Florida Republican argued that this event further shows that China is the United State's most pressing adversary.

"China has been, for some time, and will be the primary strategic adversary of the United States, and we should be focused on it because what they're trying to do is create a world in they are the most powerful nation and the United States is a great power in decline," Rubio warned, saying that lawmakers are now tasked with questioning if that's the route they want the world to head in.

Disappointed in Biden's response to the balloon, Rubio warns that it sends a message to China that there won't be any repercussions, and the effects of that, he posits, could be catastrophic.