WATCH: Biden Dismisses National Security Threat of Chinese Spy Balloon as ‘Not a Major Breach’

President Joe Biden dismissed the national security threat of the Chinese spy balloon shot down by US Military forces last weekend off the coast of South Carolina.

The president sat down with Telemundo’s Julio Vaqueiro for an interview that aired Thursday night and later shared on YouTube with Spanish subtitles.

Biden first reiterated his previous comments that he directed military officers to shoot the balloon down but it was agreed to when the aircraft arrived at a safer place for such an operation. “What would happen if it came down and hit a school in a rural area?”  Biden asked, “so I told as soon as they could shoot it down, shoot it down. They made a wise decision. They shot it down over water recovery.”

“Wasn’t a major security breach for the United States, just the fact that the balloon came into the airspace?” Vaquiero pressed the president.

Biden first dismissed the security breach by noting that this stuff always happens. “Look, the total amount of intelligence gathering that is going on by every country around the world is overwhelming. And the idea that a balloon could traverse, and break American airspace” before trailing off.

“This is not a major breach,” he concluded. “I mean, look, it’s totally it’s a violation of international law. It’s our airspace. And once it comes in our space, we, you know, we want it.”

Read the transcript below:

Vaqueiro: Okay. Let me ask you about the Chinese balloon. You know, every sure thing about this now that we know what we know is that the balloon had antennas and a communication system. Do you regret not having insisted on bringing it down sooner?

Biden: No. I think the expert, the intelligence community, defense community, they forgot more about it than you were. I know. I said I wanted to shut down as soon as possible. And they were worried about the damage it could be done, even in a big state like Montana. This thing was gigantic. What would happen if it came down and hit a school in a rural area? What would happen if it came down? So I told as soon as they could shoot it down, shoot it down. They made a wise decision. They shot it down over water recovery. Most of the parts are good.

Vaqueiro: And it wasn’t a major security breach for the United States. Just the fact that the balloon came into the airspace.

Biden: And flew.

Vaqueiro: Over the country for so many days.

Biden: Now. Look, the total amount of intelligence gathering is going on by every country around the world is overwhelming. And the idea that a balloon could traverse …break American airspace, is it anyway? This is not a major breach. I mean, look, it’s totally it’s a violation of international law. It’s our airspace. And once it comes in our space, we, you know, we want it.

Watch above via Telemundo.