President Donald Trump has announced what liberally might be called his plan to accept a jet from Qatar for use as Air Force One. As word spread about the pending largess from a foreign government, particularly one with dubious ties to some of our most notorious adversaries, Trump has gone on the defensive, arguing it would be stupid not to accept the gift of the Qatari plane.
Surprisingly, at least a few of MAGA’s most dedicated and celebrated supporters beg to differ.
In an unusual departure from their typically predictable sycophancy, some MAGA media outlets and the voices behind them are activating their platforms to urge Trump to change his mind about this extraordinary and extravagant gift. Still others are asking Trump voters to reflect upon how they would react if a Democratic president endeavored to enact this very same plan.
Daily Wire co-founder Ben Shapiro said Monday on his podcast, “I think if we switched the names to Hunter Biden and Joe Biden, we’d all be freaking out on the right.”
Shapiro also linked the potential Qatari deal with other reports of “influence peddling,” like Trump’s cryptocurrency sweepstakes.
Shapiro added, “The administration’s policy is too important for this sort of activity.” He emphasized that he wants Trump to succeed. “President Trump promised to drain the swamp. This is not, in fact, draining the swamp.”
Naturally, some Trump-aligned commentators and social media stars are echoing the president’s talking points about the luxury jet, including his insistence that only “stupid people” would turn down such a gift. Other MAGA media outlets are deflecting the criticism by sowing doubt about the media coverage of the controversy. After all, the non-MAGA media is considered the enemy of the people, by Trump and MAGA.
However, a surprising number of Trumpniks sound almost as outraged as the Democratic lawmakers who say accepting the plane would be profoundly unethical and possibly illegal.
Many of these right-wing critics, like Laura Loomer, predicated their objections on Qatar’s relationship with the militant group Hamas.
Key members of Hamas leadership have long been based in Doha, the capital of Qatar. Notably, Qatar reportedly agreed to expel Hamas officials last November.
Laura Loomer criticized Trump’s potential jet deal on Sunday and Monday by writing a series of anti-Qatar posts on X, including:
“This is really going to be such a stain on the admin if this is true.”
“And I say that as someone who would take a bullet for Trump. I’m so disappointed.”
Fox News host Mark Levin shared her post and wrote, “Ditto.”
For now, most of the conservative criticism has been leveled in social media spaces, not on the TV shows Trump is known to enjoy. The jet controversy has been only lightly covered on Fox News, the country’s dominant right-wing TV channel. The main story on Fox’s website about the matter on Monday was titled, “Trump rips ABC reporter for asking about accepting luxury jet from Qatar,” making it sound as though ABC was the problem.
In one outlier instance, “Fox & Friends” host Brian Kilmeade asked White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt about the matter on Monday morning.
In responding, Leavitt framed it as a government-to-government transaction that would be done “in full compliance with the law.” In doing so, she sidestepped reports that Trump’s presidential library will take possession of the plane shortly before he leaves office, which of course, would ensure he can still use it.
The “Fox & Friends” host followed up by asking Leavitt, “Do you worry that if they give us something like this, they want something in return?” The press secretary said no because Trump “only works with the interest of the American public in mind.”
Kilmeade then dropped the subject, moving on to Mother’s Day.
Some other conservative media figures seem less inclined to move on.
Batya Ungar-Sargon, who has championed the MAGA movement on CNN and other channels, told Newsmax on Monday afternoon, “This is not a gift” from Qatar, it’s “a bribe.”
National Review contributing editor Andrew McCarthy wrote Monday that accepting the plane is “indefensible. The president and his flacks again demonstrate that they don’t grasp the concepts of constitutional duty and conflicts of interest.” He cited the “Trump family crypto venture” as another example.
Talk radio host Erick Erickson, who, like the National Review, has often criticized Trump from a conservative perspective, didn’t mince his condemnation of the potential jet gift.
On his Monday show, Erickson argued that Qatar is not a US ally (though the US government disagrees) and pointed out that Attorney General Pam Bondi, who reportedly signed off on the legality of the gift, was previously a paid lobbyist for Qatar.
“I think she’s opening Donald Trump up to legal trouble later,” Erickson said.
Later in the day, on X, Erickson observed that “even a lot of Trump supporters were not thrilled about the Qatar plane gift” when the initial reports surfaced on Sunday.
Erickson suggested bots are flooding X with pro-Trump propaganda, “a lot of small accounts I’ve never interacted with before are flooding my timeline insisting it is a great idea.”
“When MAGA Says: “Indefensible.” “It’s a bribe.” “Such a stain” on the administration!”
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https://www.cnn.com/2025/05/12/media/maga-media-shapiro-loomer-levin-trump-qatar-plane-gift
https://thesphinxofcharlotte.blogspot.com/2025/05/when-maga-says-indefensible-its-bribe.html
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