FBI Director Christopher Wray paused for nearly ten seconds when asked to comment on whether or not the country is safer since President Joe Biden took office, eventually admitting terror threats to Americans “have elevated.”
The striking response came to a question posed by Senator Rick Scott (R-FL) during a Senate Homeland Security Committee hearing on Tuesday.
“Is the United States safer from foreign terror threats today?” Scott asked. “Are we safer than when Joe Biden took office — from the day he took office?”
Wray took a moment either to collect his thoughts or formulate a careful response.
“What I would say to you is that the terror threats have elevated,” he replied before assuring that the nation’s intelligence and law enforcement communities have taken steps to be “better prepared” to address those threats.
Scott posted the video to the X social media platform writing: “After nearly 10 seconds of silence, he finally admitted what we all know.”
I asked FBI Director Wray a simple question: is the U.S. safer today than it was before @JoeBiden took office? After nearly 10 seconds of silence, he finally admitted what we all know…
“…the terror threats have elevated…” pic.twitter.com/w90YKhRrCf
— Rick Scott (@SenRickScott) October 31, 2023
RELATED: Leaked FBI Memo Reportedly Shows Bureau, DOJ Targeting Catholics as ‘Violent Extremists’
Wray: Terror Threats ‘Elevated’ Under Biden
Wray’s comments about the terror threats came as a shock to those on social media who have seen a Justice Department under this President focus largely on domestic terrorists and alleged rampant white supremacy.
“Maybe if the FBI spent less time investigating MAGA grandmas and parents at school boards, then they’d have more time to investigate real threats?” opined Republican politician Robby Starbuck.
Starbuck posted another clip from the committee hearing in which Wray issued a chilling warning.
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“It is a time to be concerned. We are in a dangerous period,” he said.
FBI Director warns America:
“It’s a time to be concerned. We are in a dangerous period… The gaps in our intelligence are real and it’s something that we have concerns about. It is a time for vigilance… If you see something say something.”
Maybe if the FBI spent less time… pic.twitter.com/J6nxJe98Iw
— Robby Starbuck (@robbystarbuck) October 31, 2023
“The reality is that the terrorism threat has been elevated throughout 2023, but the ongoing war in the Middle East has raised the threat of an attack against Americans in the United States to a whole other level,” Wray confessed.
FBI Director Wray: “The reality is that the terrorism threat has been elevated throughout 2023, but the ongoing war in the middle East has raised the threat of an attack against Americans in the United States to a whole ‘nother level.” pic.twitter.com/nVDj1o0FSn
— ForAmerica (@ForAmerica) October 31, 2023
RELATED: Axios Mocked For Column Claiming Open Borders Are A ‘Myth’
The White House Is Watching Vigilantly
Fox News reporter Peter Doocy asked NSC Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby about Wray’s comments during a press briefing Tuesday.
“We are always concerned about the potential presence on U.S. soil of terrorists coming from overseas. That’s something we’re always worried about,” Kirby insisted.
He noted that the administration is “constantly monitoring as best we can all ports of entry to the country for the potential arrival of anybody who might wish us harm.”
Doocy noted that the ports of entry might not be the problem, but rather, the “gotaways” – numbering over 600,000 – who are slipping through the cracks.
“Is it possible that somebody who wants to commit a terrorist attack during a time of elevated threat crossed the southern border into the United States already?” he pressed.
Kirby startlingly responded, “I couldn’t possibly answer that question.”
DOOCY: “Is it possible that somebody who wants to commit a terrorist attack, during a time of elevated threat, crossed the southern border into the United States already?”
KIRBY: “I couldn’t possibly answer that question….” pic.twitter.com/bjDnLIqO6t
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) October 31, 2023
While Wray admits that the foreign terror threat is “elevated” under President Biden, a memo circulated by the FBI earlier this year was focused on a different threat – Catholic extremists.
The memorandum suggested that there are “radical traditionalists” who have the potential of being “racially or ethnically motivated violent extremists.”
I cannot believe the FBI had an internal memo calling Catholic Virginians “violent extremists” because of their religious views.
This rhetoric from the government is wrong and un-American, and I demand answers!https://t.co/AwDvp2DXss
— Jason Miyares (@JasonMiyaresVA) February 10, 2023
The FBI later removed the document from circulation, according to Fox News.
Critics have noted that the Justice Department has engaged in a dogged pursuit of January 6th protesters, irate parents at school board meetings, COVID-19 misinformation, and pro-life advocates.
Will they keep a sharp eye on the “elevated” threat from ongoing conflict in the Middle East?
While the aforementioned groups raise red flags in the view of this administration, Kirby admitted that people today making “violent antisemitic threats” are not currently, to the best of his knowledge, being classified as “domestic terrorists.”
“I don’t know that we’re classifying people as domestic terrorists for that,” he said.
Welcome to Biden’s America, folks.
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