VA Secretary Wilkie Dismisses Atlantic Report: From the ‘Same People’ That Brought You “Fake Strokes, Russian Collusion’
VA Secretary Robert Wilkie defended President Donald Trump following last week’s stunning Atlantic report during a CNN interview Sunday.
Dana Bash asked Wilkie about Trump allegedly disparaging fallen soldiers and said CNN has confirmed a detail of the report. “Have you ever heard the president disparage U.S. service members or veterans?”
“Absolutely not,” Wilkie said. “And I would be offended too if I thought it was true. Again, I think anonymous are the same people that brought you fake heart attacks, fake strokes, Russian collusion. So, I am very proud that this president has led to a renaissance at Veterans Affairs.”
He mentioned CNN’s own reporting on the VA under the Obama administration and touted Trump administration successes.
Bash went back to the Atlantic report and told Wilkie that CNN has not reported anything about strokes. She continued on to note how multiple news outlets have corroborated parts of the Atlantic report and asked, “How can you be sure that that is not true, especially since you weren’t there?”
Wilkie again knocked the anonymous sourcing and said, “What I am looking at is the Donald Trump that I know, the Donald Trump who has turned around Veterans Affairs from a place that in the Obama administration was 16 out of 17 in terms of best places to work. We’re now up to six.”
Bash played Trump’s infamous comments attacking John McCain a few years ago and asked Wilkie if he can understand why people find the details of the Atlantic report believable.
Wilkie said, “Well, I understand that in the passion of a campaign with two powerful personalities.”
He said he was a friend of McCain’s before adding, “I understand politics. I understand name-calling when it comes from both sides. But all I can say is the proof in the pudding for us is what has happened to veterans in the last three years.”
Bash again asked about Trump’s attacks on McCain and Wilkie again said, “Well, it’s politics. It’s the heat of a campaign. I judge a man by his actions, and the actions have been beneficial for veterans all across this country in ways that we have not seen since the end of World War II.”
You can watch above, via CNN.
