President Trump’s nominee to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs, Ronny Jackson, has now served as a physician under three presidents and carries a peculiar nickname from former President George W. Bush: “Scrote.”
The Washington Post reports that Bush awarded Jackson the nickname after the physician cut himself in the leg with a hoe at the former president’s ranch in Texas. As Jackson began to stitch up his own leg, Bush protested, but Jackson resisted assistance.
“It’s OK, I’ve sewn myself up before,” Jackson said, recounting a story for the president of a time that the physician had administered stitches to his own testicle. Bush liked the story so much that he gave the doctor the nickname “Scrote.”
Prior to his nomination in March to lead the VA, Jackson served as a rear admiral in the U.S. Navy and currently serves as the physician to the president under Trump.
Jackson’s nomination has come under criticism from lawmakers who argue Jackson is unqualified to run the VA citing the physicians lack of experience managing a major bureaucracy.
