The White House rallied around Ronny L. Jackson’s nomination to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs late Tuesday as the president’s doctor was besieged by accusations that he improperly dispensed drugs, created a hostile workplace and became intoxicated on duty.
The administration’s decision to fight on in defense of the nomination came hours after President Trump publicly suggested that Jackson should consider pulling out because of the “abuse” he was facing. But by late afternoon, Trump huddled with Jackson, and White House aides vowed to fight the charges.
“I don’t want to put a man through a process like this,” Trump had said earlier when asked about Jackson’s nomination during a joint news conference with French President Emmanuel Macron. “It’s too ugly, and it’s too disgusting.”
Trump added, “I said to Dr. Jackson, what do you need it for? To be abused by a bunch of politicians? . . . If I was him . . . I wouldn’t do it.”
The ranking Democrat on the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, Sen. John Tester (Mont.), during an interview with NPR on Tuesday night, referenced a slew of accusations against Jackson from some 20 people — ranging from an abusive work atmosphere to overprescribing sleeping medication on foreign trips to drunkenness on the job. CNN later reported, “During an overseas trip in 2015, Rear Adm. Ronny Jackson, the White House physician, was intoxicated and banged on the hotel room door of a female employee, according to four sources familiar with the allegation. The incident became so noisy, one source familiar with the allegation told CNN, that the Secret Service stopped him out of concern that he would wake then-President Barack Obama.”
The episode features Trump’s myriad character defaults and deficiencies that have made this the most chaotic, scandal-plagued and incompetent presidency in recent memory. Let’s review them:
Trump doesn’t know or care what top government officials do, so he has no sense of who can succeed: He elevates his doctor to head a department with a budget of nearly $200 billion and more than 375,000 employees. The president hired an oil executive with zero government service to run the State Department, a brain surgeon to run the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and a slew of Goldman Sachs fat cats with no government service to top economic posts. He refuses to consult with lawmakers before making a pick, and thereby deprives himself of knowledgeable advice and the chance to avert a train wreck. It should surprise no one when disaster ensues.
Trump blames others: The president immediately lashed out at “politicians” for Jackson’s travails. However, Trump is solely responsible for his impulsive, totally inappropriate pick — someone who apparently was never vetted or even interviewed. (By the way, Chief of Staff John F. Kelly has completely failed to normalize the operation of the White House; he should do the honorable thing and resign.) It was the Republican chairman of the Veterans’ Affairs Committee, Sen. Johnny Isakson (Ga.), in consultation with Tester, who postponed Jackson’s confirmation hearing.
Trump is fickle: One moment Trump is cutting Jackson loose; the next he is defending him. Whether it is the North American Free Trade Agreement, health care or immigration, Trump bounces back and forth. He will say whatever he thinks makes him look good at that moment, often not realizing he often contradicts himself within minutes. This makes it nearly impossible for his underlings to act on his directions, or to give accurate information to the press and public. (The media should stop asking White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders the status of various besieged administration members; she either doesn’t know or is misleading. What’s the point?)
Trump is cowardly: He finds it impossible to fire people in person. In the case of Jackson, Trump tried to hint that his nominee should go. However, when it came to a face-to-face meeting with Jackson, Trump couldn’t bear to deliver the bad news. Whether it is Rex Tillerson at State, or former Veterans Affairs secretary David Shulkin, advisers may not even know they’ve been fired until they hear it from the media. Trump’s personal weakness results in decent people being treated shabbily. Upstanding people don’t want to take these jobs if this is how they are treated.
Trump ruins those around him: The Post’s report summed up the tragic fate of one Trump appointee after another.
It was another episode where a previously respected figure was lifted to prominence in Trump’s orbit — only to have their sheen and reputation tarnished. Jackson had been widely hailed by three presidents and their aides as competent, charming and fiercely protective before Trump stunned Washington last month by picking the doctor to run the country’s second-largest federal agency.
If the allegations of misconduct are true, it is difficult to see how Jackson could remain in his current post as White House physician, let alone be confirmed to lead VA.
As scandals close in, Trump’s conduct gets worse by the day and the quality of his advisers declines with each departure. One shudders to think how bad things will get, and what permanent damage to the operation of government will be done before Trump leaves office.