The Biden administration has been "wrong" on the matter of drones that have been seen over areas of the East Coast, as it's "not that hard" to determine what is going on, Rep. Ryan Zinke told Newsmax on Saturday.
"It is absolutely stunning," the Montana Republican told Newsmax's "Wake Up America Weekend." "They're wrong if they don't know. They're wrong if they know and they're not telling us, and they're wrong if they don't have the capability to find out what's going on."
His comments come after President-elect Donald Trump said Friday that the government must know more about the drone sightings, and if it doesn't, then the drones must be shot down.
There have been sightings of flying objects in Maryland, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania, and U.S. military officials have confirmed reports of drones being seen near and above bases in the United Kingdom and Germany.
But Zinke said it should not be difficult to figure out what is going on.
"We have sophisticated systems on radar, on Doppler," he said. "We certainly can move instrumentation in. If it was me, I'd put a TFR up, a temporary flight restriction zone, and concentrate around areas that we need to protect and give some certainty and clarity to the American people."
Zinke pointed out that the drones are being seen about a year after the "balloon fiasco," when the Biden administration "let a balloon wander all the way across the United States before doing anything."
Further, he said, "They lied about Afghanistan. They lied about Hunter Biden's laptop. They lied about the pardon. The people of the United States don't trust our government and that's got to change."
But the administration has "Admiral [John] Kirby, who's Doctor Spinmaster," said Zinke. "They put a spin on it. And remember, in this case with the drones, they said, we have no evidence it's foreign. We have no evidence. It's a national security threat. Well, they don't have evidence to the contrary either, because they don't know or they're not telling us. Either way, it's wrong."
Zinke also on Saturday discussed Secretary of State Antony Blinken's testimony before the House Foreign Affairs Committee, where on Wednesday he defended the administration's decision on the withdrawal from Afghanistan while claiming the Trump White House did not properly prepare for it.
"It was stunning," the congressman said. "First of all, to think that you're going to evacuate and leave Afghanistan from Kabul. It has one airstrip, one airstrip. All they had to do is put a little hole in that and nothing was getting out."
The United States is also "very fortunate" to have lost only 13 heroes, he added, because "we could have lost thousands because the Taliban was in control… we should have kept Kandahar. We should have kept Bagram. That would have given us some lift. But the way we did it, it put everyone in jeopardy."
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Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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