Don Jr Calls For Montanans to Shoot Down Chinese Spy Balloon (They Can’t. It’s Too High)

 

Donald Trump Jr.

Donald Trump Jr, the eldest son of former President Donald Trump, decided to add his voice to the growing right-wing furor over the Chinese spy balloon flying over Montana

Many on the right, like Rep. James Comer (R-KY), used the incident to declare President Joe Biden “weak” and warned the balloon might be filled with “bioweapons.” Other Republicans, like Donald Trump, demanded Biden shoot the balloon down, despite the military’s concern of debris falling on Americans.

Trump Jr, however, had a different idea for how to deal with the balloon. Trump Jr, having already decided Biden was too “weak” to take care of the balloon, urged to good people of Montana to deal with it themselves.

“If Joe Biden and his administration are too weak to do the obvious and shoot down an enemy surveillance balloon perhaps we just let the good people of Montana do their thing… I imagine they have the capability and the resolve to do it all themselves,” Trump Jr wrote on Twitter – followed by a bunch of balloon emojis.

One issue, of course, with Trump Jr’s suggestion is the fact that the spy balloon, which is reportedly the size of three busses, is flying well over 66,000 feet in the air. Rebecca Grant of the national security-focused think tank IRIS Independent Research noted in a Fox News op-ed the difficulty that even the U.S. military will have in shooting down the balloon.

“Engaging a slippery balloon above 60,000 feet requires a precise air-to-air missile shot lofted up to the balloon’s altitude. Or, the F-22’s 20mm, six-barrel Gatling gun could shred the balloon. The complicating factor is that it takes a while for the gas to leak out as the balloon deflates. The time and place of the balloon’s crash to earth would be hard to predict because of “the winds aloft” as the aviators say,” Grant wrote on Friday.

So, while I am sure the people of Montana are grateful for Trump Jr’s faith in them, his time might be better served ranting on Rumble than making tactical suggestions.

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Alex Griffing is a Senior Editor at Mediaite. Send tips via email: alexanderg@mediaite.com. Follow him on Twitter: @alexgriffing