After allegations that Rear Adm. Ronny Jackson was abusive to colleagues and once wrecked a government vehicle while intoxicated, the nominee to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) withdrew his name.
Jackson, Texas A&M Galveston Class of 1991, is currently the Physician to the President and was nominated to lead the VA in March. Wednesday evening, a two-page document was released by Democrats in the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee that said Jackson was “abusive” to his coworkers, misused prescription painkillers and drunkenly wrecked a government vehicle. That night, Jackson told reporters he had not wrecked the vehicle. Thursday morning, Jackson made a statement announcing his withdrawal from the selection process.
In his statement, Jackson said the allegations were untrue and cited his previous work in the White House as evidence.
“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,” Jackson said. “Going into this process, I expected tough questions about how to best care for our veterans, but I did not expect to have to dignify baseless and anonymous attacks on my character and integrity.”
Jackson said he will be forever grateful for the trust and confidence President Donald Trump placed in him with the nomination and blamed Washington politics on his withdrawal.
“Unfortunately, because of how Washington works, these false allegations have become a distraction for this president and the important issue we must be addressing- how we give the best care to our nation’s heroes,” Jackson said in his statement.
In a phone interview Thursday morning, President Trump told Fox & Friends he also blamed politics for the situation.
“You know, these are all false accusations that were made,” Trump said. “These are false, and they’re trying to destroy a man. By the way, I did say, ‘Welcome to Washington. Welcome to the swamp. Welcome to the world of politics.’”
Leaders on both sides of the aisle have responded to Jackson’s withdrawal on twitter.
Ronny Jackson made the right decision to withdraw. Our veterans deserve a fully-vetted VA Secretary with the experience to lead the government’s second largest agency and who won’t be a rubber stamp for the right-wing effort to privatize the VA.
— Senator Mazie Hirono (@maziehirono) April 26, 2018
My statement on Rear Admiral Ronny Jackson’s decision to withdraw from consideration as Secretary of the @DeptVetAffairs: pic.twitter.com/muxCuvy178
— Senator Jon Tester (@SenatorTester) April 26, 2018
Admiral Ronny Jackson is a man of exceptional integrity, character and intellect. We are grateful for his long and distinguished service to our Nation and look forward to continuing to see his warm smile each day at the White House!
— Ivanka Trump (@IvankaTrump) April 26, 2018
