Pentagon mocked for Veterans Day post depicting Chinese aircraft

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin speaks during a joint press briefing at the Pentagon on Oct. 30, in Washington. Kevin Wolf/AP

The Biden administration’s Department of Defense was the subject of widespread mockery Monday after a Veterans Day social media post featured a Chinese aircraft.

The post was created by the F-35 Joint Program Office. The office describes itself via social media as “the DoD’s focal point for defining next gen strike aircraft weapons systems.”

Its now-deleted post read “Veterans Day: honoring those who served” beneath an image of an aircraft, according to screenshots circulating social media. That aircraft, according to Military.com, was not an American F-35, but a Chinese plane.

“You might think that, given the F-35 Lightning II Joint Program Office’s singular responsibility of ensuring the U.S. military’s F-35 fleet is ready to fight tonight, the service members working for that office would be intimately familiar with at least a handful of the passing details of the aircraft, no matter how far from an engineering bay their job may take them,” the site wrote. “Sadly, that is not the case.”

Criticism began to pile on as Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., reposted a screenshot of the deleted post, writing “WTAF.”

Also reacting was Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah.

“Biden Administration: showcasing Chinese military equipment on Veterans Day,” he mocked via X.

The F-35 office does not appear to have shared a corrected Veterans Day post as of Tuesday. Representatives of the Department of Defense and the F-35 office did not respond to a request for comment from The National News Desk Tuesday.

It is not the first time the Department of Defense has been criticized for social media blunders under the Biden administration. In September, the Navy announced it had relieved the commanding officer of the USS John S. McCain of his duties, citing a “loss of confidence” in his ability to lead the guided-missile destroyer. That officer was mocked on social media after the Navy released a photo of him firing a rifle with an improperly mounted Trijicon VCOG scope.

Rep. Mike Collins, R-Ga., ridiculed the officer by sharing an image of a pistol with a barrel that faces toward its user.

“Navy’s newly issued sidearm,” he jeered.

The Navy later deleted the photo, saying it would assign EMI, or extra military instruction, based on the incident.

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