Dr. Ronny Jackson withdrew his name as the nomination for secretary of Veteran Affairs. Dr. Jackson has faced several allegations of unprofessional behavior – even some criminal activity – including the most recent claims that he crashed a government car while driving drunk. President Trump phoned in to Fox & Friends Thursday morning and called the accusations false, but Dr. Jackson, who also denied the allegations, considered the issue a distraction to the president and removed himself from consideration anyway.
The Hill released a story Wednesday cataloguing the myriad alleged offenses of the would-be VA secretary. Dr. Jackson has been accused of writing himself prescriptions, handing out drugs – including Percocet, Ambien, and Provigil – to pretty much anyone who asked for them, and in general, behaving like a drunken child. In addition to wrecking the government car while inebriated, he supposedly passed out drunk on the job at least once and was prone to screaming tantrums.
Senator Jon Tester
How could someone this irresponsible ever be picked by a sitting president for anything even remotely important? Well, these allegations don’t tell the whole story. Apparently, they’re from a report released by Senator Jon Tester of Montana – a Democrat, surprise, surprise – and quotes 23 current and former colleagues of Jackson. He told CNN’s Anderson Cooper that Jackson would walk down the aisle of the airplane during flights for the Obama administration passing out pills like candy – he even claimed that Jackson was often called “the candy man” by White House staffers.
But none of these accusations have yet been confirmed, and some Senators doubt the accuracy of the anonymous allegations:
“There’s a lot of allegations out there… I’ve seen none of them, I’ve seen no one who’s come forward,” Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) said. “I’ve seen no report that demonstrates that any allegations have merit.”
Dr. Ronny Jackson served as White House physician during the last three administrations and was promoted to serve as the physician to President Obama. Before working in the White House, he was a combat medic in Iraq.
The White House has defended Dr. Jackson across the board. President Trump spoke out for the man on Fox & Friends. White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders called his record impeccable, and averred that he was aggressively vetted. A senior administration official said that the accusations came from an ex-colleague who was simply bitter over being fired. The former chief of staff for Obama’s National Security Council, Brian McKeon, said that the use of Ambien was common by those having trouble sleeping on long overnight flights, but that so far as he knew, he had never witnessed Dr. Jackson’s alleged drunken antics. “Not even sure I ever saw him take a drink,” McKeon said.
Dr. Ronny Jackson
Trump isn’t the only president who lauded Dr. Jackson. Obama wrote in a fitness report in 2016 that “Ronny does a great job. Genuine enthusiasm, poised under pressure, incredible work ethic and follow through. Ronny continues to inspire confidence with the care he provides to me, my family, and my team. Continue to promote ahead of peers.”
But the best point made in his defense was probably his own: “The allegations against me are completely false and fabricated,” he said. “If they had any merit, I would not have been selected, promoted and entrusted to serve in such a sensitive and important role as physician to three presidents over the past 12 years.”
It certainly seems that these allegations are just more of left’s usual character assassination attempts. However, whether they are true or not and whether they are believed or not, Dr. Ronny Jackson will not be the next VA secretary.
