President Biden reportedly shocked a group of U.S. officials after openly discussing sensitive information regarding the Chinese spy balloon with a room full of donors.
On Tuesday, the president told about 130 guests at a fundraiser in California that Chinese President Xi Jinping was embarrassed after the U.S. shot down the Chinese spy balloon off the coast of South Carolina in February.
“The reason why Xi Jinping got very upset in terms of when I shot that balloon down with two boxcars full of spy equipment in it is he didn’t know it was there,” Biden reportedly said at a private Kentfield home on Tuesday. “No, I’m serious. That’s a great embarrassment for dictators when they didn’t know what happened.”
U.S. officials in attendance were surprised by the president’s remarks at a campaign event, according to the New York Times, which reported that an anonymous source confirmed Biden’s comments were accurate.
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The president also referred to Xi as a dictator during the event, prompting anger from Chinese officials.
When asked about Biden’s decision to discuss the sensitive information at a big-dollar fundraiser, the Pentagon referred Fox News Digital to the White House, which has yet to return comment.
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Biden’s 2024 campaign also did not respond when asked if a campaign event was an appropriate setting to share information that does not appear to have been publicly released by the intelligence community.
Biden’s possible oversharing came just days after he said the spy balloon fiasco “was more embarrassing than it was intentional” for China, when asked about Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s trip to the country and whether he could ease tensions overseas.
“China has some legitimate difficulties unrelated to the United States, and I think one of the things that balloon caused was not so much that it got shot down, but I don’t think the leadership knew where it was, knew what it was in it and what was going on,” Biden said Saturday. “I think it was more embarrassing than it was intentional.”
China hit back Wednesday, saying that Biden’s comments “severely infringe on China’s political dignity.”
“The U.S. remarks are extremely absurd and irresponsible. It is a blatant political provocation,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said at a briefing. “China expresses strong dissatisfaction and opposition.”