Updated at 4:07 p.m.
President Trump said Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., should resign for making allegations about drunkenness against Dr. Ronny Jackson, the White House physician who withdrew his nomination to be considered for secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs.
“Tester should resign,” Trump said Saturday morning on Twitter of the top Democrat on the Veterans Affairs Committee. “The great people of Montana will not stand for this kind of slander when talking of a great human being. Admiral Jackson is the kind of man that those in Montana would most respect and admire, and now, for no reason whatsoever, his reputation has been shattered. Not fair, Tester!”
Trump tapped Jackson after firing his predecessor, David Shulkin. Jackson’s nomination drew concern from both Democrats and Republicans because of his lack of experience running a large agency. But this week, stories began to emerge saying that Jackson drank on the job and was not judicious enough in giving staffers opioids and sleep medication.
Tester, who is up for re-election, shared these stories with reporters.
One incident that was circulated alleged that Jackson was drunk one night and banged on the door of a female employee, causing the Secret Service to intervene so that he wouldn’t wake former President Barack Obama. The Secret Service looked into the alleged incident, and on Friday said they had no records of the matter.
Trump drew attention to the investigation in another tweet.
Allegations made by Senator Jon Tester against Admiral/Doctor Ron Jackson are proving false. The Secret Service is unable to confirm (in fact they deny) any of the phony Democrat charges which have absolutely devastated the wonderful Jackson family. Tester should resign. The…..
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 28, 2018
….great people of Montana will not stand for this kind of slander when talking of a great human being. Admiral Jackson is the kind of man that those in Montana would most respect and admire, and now, for no reason whatsoever, his reputation has been shattered. Not fair, Tester!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 28, 2018
“Allegations made by Senator Jon Tester against Admiral/Doctor Ron Jackson are proving false,” Trump said on Twitter Saturday morning. “The Secret Service is unable to confirm (in fact they deny) any of the phony Democrat charges which have absolutely devastated the wonderful Jackson family.”
Later in the day, Trump tweeted again that the Secret Service found the allegations to be baseless, and he likened the incident to accusations he has faced about colluding with Russian officials to influence the U.S. election.
Secret Service has just informed me that Senator Jon Tester’s statements on Admiral Jackson are not true. There were no such findings. A horrible thing that we in D.C. must live with, just like phony Russian Collusion. Tester should lose race in Montana. Very dishonest and sick!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 28, 2018
“Tester should lose the race in Montana,” he wrote. “Very dishonest and sick!”
Jackson has also denied the allegations but ultimately withdrew his name from consideration.
“Going into this process, I expected tough questions about how to best care for our veterans, but I did not expect to have to dignify baseless and anonymous attacks on my character and dignity,” Jackson said.
