White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was called in over the weekend after struggling to explain why the US military shot down an unidentified aerial object over Canada.
A “high-altitude aerial object” over northern Canada was shot down by an F-22 fighter jet at the direction of President Biden from the North American Aerospace Defense Command. [NORAD] This has been officially confirmed in a statement to Fox News Digital. The incident comes a day after the US Shot down An unidentified object was detected in northern Alaska on Friday before entering US airspace and a week after the US shot down a Chinese surveillance balloon off the coast of South Carolina.
The White House has confirmed that President Biden has been authorized to shoot down the object, but did not elaborate further.
In an interview on MSNBC Sunday, Jean-Pierre was asked bluntly, “Why is the US military shooting something out of the sky over Canada?”
Coordinator for Strategic Communications at the National Security Council John Kirby (left), White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre (right) on Feb. 10 at the White House’s James S. Brady attends a daily news briefing in the press briefing room. , 2023 in Washington, DC. ((Photo by Alex Wong / Getty Images))
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the US shot down a high-altitude aerial object over North America
The press secretary broached her way through the response, offering little clarity while avoiding a direct explanation on the matter.
“Because it’s part of uh NORAD. NORAD is part of uh, part of uh, it’s a — it’s uh what you call a coalition and that’s why we were able to do that. Again, we didn’t do it our On our own, we did it in uh – in uh clearly, in uh, Canada – with Canada,” she said.
Critics reacted sharply to Jean-Pierre’s faux pas, some bashing his communication skills and others pointing to his use of the word “Canada”.
Greg Price, senior digital strategist at X Strategies, tweeted, “Lmfao she really is the most incompetent press secretary ever.”
“Brutal,” replied Stephen Miller, a former senior White House adviser.
American Greatness reporter Deb Heine responded, “Communication is one of her jobs.”
“Plain dumb!” Vernon Jones of Georgia said.
A senior US official confirmed to Fox News on Sunday that the unidentified “objects” shot down by the US over Canada and Alaska were both balloons carrying payloads.
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Suspected Chinese spy balloon Columbia, Missouri at 2:27 p.m. EST. (Fox News Digital)
The official told Fox News that details about the object that flew through Canadian airspace were scarce throughout the weekend, but US officials now describe it as “a small metal balloon with a small metal tail.” has been described. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said he received a briefing on the issue on Sunday and was told that the object in Alaskan airspace on Friday was also believed to be a balloon.
Fox News’ Anders Hagstrom contributed to this report.