JD Vance turns on one of his own after receiving MAGA backlash

Vice President JD Vance is shutting down news about the construction of a Qatar Air Force facility in Idaho, even though Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth made the announcement just two days earlier.

Hegseth’s announcement set off a whirlwind of backlash among many factions, including supporters of Trump’s MAGA base.

While appearing Sunday morning on News’ “Sunday Morning Futures,” host Maria Bartiromo asked Vance about the facility and what Qatar plans to develop in Idaho. Vance called Hegseth’s announcement a “false story.”

“Yes, I saw some reports about this, Maria. In fact, I spoke with Secretary of War Pete Hegseth this morning,” Vance said. “This is largely a false story. We continue to have relationships with the countries we work with, where sometimes their pilots work at our bases, sometimes we train together, sometimes we work together in other ways.”

Vance went on to blame “erroneous reporting” for the confusion over the so-called facilities.

“The information that somehow there will be a Qatari base on American soil is simply not true,” he explained. “We continue to work with several of our Arab friends to ensure that we are able to enforce this peace, but we are not going to allow a foreign country to have an actual base on American soil.”

Vance added: “So there is a little bit of misinformation about it, as there often is, as you know, Maria.”

Hegseth made the announcement about the facility during a meeting with Qatari Defense Minister Saoud bin Abdulrahman Al Thani at the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, on October 10.

“I am also proud to announce today that we will sign a letter of acceptance to build an Emeri Qatari Air Force facility at Mountain Home Air Force Base in Idaho.” Hegseth saying. “The site will host a contingent of F-15s and Qatari pilots.”

fake images

Hegseth added at the time that the facility will “enhance our combined training, increase lethality” and “interoperability” between nations.

“The US military has a long-standing partnership with Qatar, including the cooperation announced today with the F-15QA aircraft,” he wrote. “However, to be clear, Qatar will not have its own base in the United States, or anything resembling a base. We control the existing base, as we do with all partners.”

Meanwhile, conservative political activist and staunch Trump ally Laura Loomer complained about the facility in a series of X posts, calling it “an abomination.”

“What the fuck, IS THE AMERICA FIRST TO ALLOW QATAR TO HAVE A MILITARY BASE ON AMERICAN LAND? This is an abomination. So much for ‘Make America Safe Again,'” he wrote on Friday, referencing Trump’s “America First” agenda.

Loomer added: “By allowing the funders of HAMAS and the Muslim Brotherhood to have a military base on American soil. It’s fucking believable. Just incredible.”

Steve Bannon, who served as White House chief strategist during Trump’s first term, also argued to Newsweek that “there should never be a military base of a foreign power on America’s hallowed soil.”