Morning Joe Suggests Campaign to Smear Ronny Jackson: Could Be ‘Biggest Political Hit Job’ in Years
Morning Joe tackled the latest reports on Dr. Ronny Jackson — the White House physician who President Donald Trump nominated to be secretary of Veterans Affairs — and suggested there’s something suspicious about the mounting allegations against him.
Senate Democrats released a summary of Jackson’s alleged misconduct on Wednesday, which included claims of being hostile on the job, doling prescription drugs like candy, and wrecking a car while driving drunk.
In the first segment on Morning Joe, host Joe Scarborough posited: “Either this guy is the most out of control, crazed admiral ever, or this is the biggest political hit job that we have seen in recent years.”
The Morning Joe continued to assess the allegations later in the show, with David Ignatius concluding that Jackson was selected to lead this the massive veteran’s agency “on a whim of the president.”
“It’s just a sloppy nomination of an important job,” Ignatius added.
MSNBC’s Willie Geist noted that veterans advocates are arguing that Jackson’s handing out of prescription drugs is “immaterial” to his running of the VA — “the problem is this has nine million enrollees who count on this health care system.”
Geist then revealed that he has been “amazed” by the “sheer number of people in the Obama administration” who have messaged him privately to say that while Jackson did hand out Ambien on flights and have a few drinks after work, “he was a great doctor, a good man, President Obama wrote him four separate commendations.”
“They’re surprised to see this, and they’re suspicious, and they’re suspicious of what [Scarborough] is suspicious of, that somebody has some kind of agenda to push him aside,” Geist said.
“And I don’t know if it’s coming out of the Pentagon,” Scarborough said, “I don’t know where it’s coming. It don’t think the man is qualified so I’m not sitting here fighting for him to run the VA.”
“This seems over the top,” Brzezinski noted, and Scarborough agreed.
Scarborough noted that numerous officials from previous administrations have spoken out in defense of Jackson.
BBC anchor Katty Kay pointed out that one of the allegations — that Jackson crashed a car while driving drunk — can be proven to be true or false.
“The car could be critical,” Kay said.
“He has now said that the car accident did not happen, categorically,” she explained. “So therefore if we find out that there’s any record of the fact that the car accident did happen, that would throw into question any statements about his other activities as well.”
Watch above, via MSNBC.
[image via screengrab]
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