Trump's Jackson nomination was an unmitigated disaster, even by Trumpian standards
newsdepo.com
Donald Trump's White House does most things poorly—that's a given. But Trump's failed nomination of Dr. Ronny Jackson (aka the «candyman») to head the vast Veterans Affairs bureaucracy really just boggles the mind, even in an era of Trumpian lowTrump's Jackson nomination was an unmitigated disaster, even by Trumpian standards
Donald Trump's White House does most things poorly—that's a given. But Trump's failed nomination of Dr. Ronny Jackson (aka the «candyman») to head the vast Veterans Affairs bureaucracy really just boggles the mind, even in an era of Trumpian lows. Jackson pulled his name from consideration early Thursday morning. But it wasn’t until Tuesday night—just 24 hours before Jackson began saying he might pull the plug—that the White House really began defending Trump’s pick. At the White House briefing Wednesday afternoon, press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders claimed the vetting process had been “thorough.” On Wednesday night, spokesperson Raj Shah added, “We need evidence to be presented to corroborate” the flood of eye-popping allegations dotting the headlines. Yet asked if they were prepared for Jackson to withdraw his name, Shah told reporters: “We're prepared for everything.” By that time, Shah clearly had an inkling where things were headed. Still, it was quite a statement for a White House that did zero prep work on Jackson’s nomination to begin with. First off, no one really thought Jackson had the management chops to oversee a 375,000-person agency in the first place, and that was before we learned how badly he mismanaged the White House medical team of 70. Then, after putting forward a completely shaky nomination at the outset, came the silent treatment from the White House (courtesy of the Washington Post). When allegations of professional misconduct by White House physician Ronny L. Jackson started trickling during the past week to the Senate committee considering his nomination to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs, its chairman, Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.), called the White House twice seeking information. The answers did not appear to satisfy him. Following that stellar performance, the White House left it to the C-team to prep Jackson and grease the skids on Capitol Hill. Read more