'Wow': Biden-Harris DOD bungles Veterans Day commemoration with mind-boggling error

Keen observers noticed something amiss about a Biden-Harris Department of Defense social media post Monday commemorating Veterans Day.

In a now-deleted post on Instagram and X, the F-35 Lightning II Joint Program Office — whose very existence centers on the F-35 fighter jet — shared an image of an aircraft with the caption, "Today, and every day, we thank all Veterans and those currently serving for their service and sacrifice."

The trouble with the F-35 JPO's post was not the wording but rather the image. Not only was the aircraft pictured not American, it belongs to an adversarial, communist nation that some living veterans commemorated on Monday fought against in Korea.

Military.com noted that instead of the F-35's single Pratt & Whitney F135 turbofan engine, the vehicle depicted in the post had twin engines. On closer examination, it appears as though the F-35 JPO actually posted an image of communist China's J-35 stealth fighter aircraft, the People's Liberation Army Air Force's F-35 knockoff.

'You can't make this stuff up.'

The backlash was immediate.

Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.) wrote, "WTAF?"

"Biden Administration: showcasing Chinese military equipment on Veterans Day," wrote Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah).

One commentator on Instagram noted, "'Mom I want an F-35 from the JPO!' 'no son, we have F-35s at home!' *the F-36s at home*"

"Embarrassing," wrote another user. "Please take this down. We don't want a Chinese J-35 supported by our F-35 JPO office."

Conservative filmmaker Robby Starbuck tweeted, "You can't make this stuff up. Wow."

Former Salomon Brothers and Citigroup investment banker John LeFevre wrote, "China stole the IP for the F-35 and then mocked us by naming theirs the J-35. Today, the Biden administration celebrated Veteran's Day by posting a picture of the Chinese knockoff."

The F-35 JPO, which touts itself as the "DoD's focal point for defining next gen strike aircraft weapons systems," deleted the post, then shared images and video of real F-35 jets.

Blaze News has reached out to the F-35 JPO for comment.

While embarrassing, the F-35 JPO's blunder was not the first time the Biden-Harris DOD evidenced difficulty discerning friend from foe.

Stars and Stripes reported that the U.S. Pacific Fleet tweeted then deleted a Fourth of July message last year depicting a service member saluting silhouettes of a Russian Kashin-class destroyer and Russian Sukhoi-27 fighter jets.

The Naval Criminal Investigative Service similarly mistook an adversary's ship for its own, celebrating the U.S. Navy's 246th birthday in 2021 with an image of a Russian Kirov-class battle cruiser.

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