According to Donald Trump, he always hires “only the best people.” So, what went wrong when he nominated his personal physician, Dr. Ronny Jackson, to be the new Secretary of Veterans Affairs? EVERYTHING!
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The Department of Veterans Affairs is a behemoth of a government agency, employing more than 377,000 people and serving an estimated 18.5 million veterans. So, when Trump had a hissy fit and fired former Secretary David Shulkin from the post, he somehow got the bright idea to nominate his private caregiver, Dr. Ronny Jackson for the job — a man with no administrative skills for such a gargantuan and important position, who only got the nod because he went on TV to declare “The Donald” in tip-top shape after giving him a routine physical examination.
Too bad Trump and his White House minions didn’t take the time to properly vet the good doctor, because not only is Ronny Jackson completely underqualified for the job, but he’s reportedly not even the man he’s cracked up to be.
During the past week alone, a series of damning allegations have gradually bubbled to the surface against Dr. Jackson, including claims that he was regularly “abusive” to his colleagues, loosely handled prescription pain medications (known as opioids), and was frequently intoxicated — even crashing a car once while drunk.
Congressional leaders easily uncovered information that Dr. Ronny Jackson “wrecked a government vehicle” while at a going-away party and “on at least one occasion could not be reached when needed because he was passed out drunk in his hotel room.” One late night he was also allegedly so drunk, he improperly banged on the hotel-room door of a female employee during a business trip.
Additional allegations include Dr. Jackson prescribing medications when “other physicians would not” and for the White House’s medical unit having under his guidance “questionable record keeping for pharmaceuticals,” making it difficult to account for all controlled substances. In one instance, Jackson provided “a large supply” of Percocet to a White House Military Office staffer, throwing the White House Medical Unit staff “into a panic” when it could not account for it.
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The incriminating information against Dr. Jackson was all too easily available, proving The White House did not conduct due diligence in vetting him for the all-important veteran’s position. Or, more likely, Donald Trump jumped the gun and announced Jackson before anyone in his administration could complete any sort of a proper evaluation.
Now, White House aides are scrambling to determine if the embattled nominee should step aside “before things get worse” and are even preparing for the very likely possibility that he is already doomed. However, if Jackson becomes a casualty (before even being confirmed), it will only be par for the course for the dozens before him who have come and gone in the revolving door known as the Trump administration.
Meanwhile, former White House ethics lawyer Richard Painter slammed the Trump White House on CNN for their failure to properly vet Dr. Ronny Jackson. According to Painter, the Jackson fiasco is only a small portion of the deep discord inside the wild world of Donald Trump.
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I’m glad you’re covering this story DJ because frankly there is a lot about this story that just doesn’t make any sense to me at all. Maybe I’ve missed something that you, or BD or other readers can help clear up for me. First let me say- obviously Ronny Jackson is NOT qualified for the position of Secretary of Veterans Affairs (which naturally made him a perfect pick for Trump in the first place). And Jackson has now withdrawn his nomination. But I have to ask – given what’s now being reported about his “troubling” history how on earth was Jackson even allowed to keep his job as as White House Physician” for so long? As per his career bio, Jackson was chosen to be the White House physician in 2006, “directing the Executive Health Care” for the President, the President’s Cabinet and senior staff. And he served in that… Read more »