Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-TX) opened up about how he felt after being “scolded” by former President Barack Obama upon questioning Joe Biden’s cognitive health and whom he turned to for guidance in a moment of uncertainty.
Jackson, who was a physician for three presidents, including Obama, before being elected to Congress, shared his experience with Fox News host Maria Bartiromo on Sunday as he expounded on his forthcoming memoir, Holding the Line: A Lifetime of Defending Democracy and American Values. Reports about the book revealed that Obama sent Jackson a scathing email after Jackson posted a tweet in 2020 suggesting Biden should take a cognitive test.
“I had mixed emotions about it. It was kind of a combination between being a little pissed off and being angry about it and having my feelings hurt just a little bit,” Jackson said on Sunday Morning Futures.
OBAMA CALLED WH PHYSICIAN ‘UNPROFESSIONAL’ FOR QUESTIONING BIDEN’S COGNITION: BOOK
In his book, as reported by Fox News, Jackson described receiving an email from Obama expressing disappointment in his “unprofessional” conduct for the “cheap shot you took at Joe Biden,” who was Obama’s vice president.
“I have made a point of not commenting on your service in my successor’s administration and have always spoken highly of you both in public and in private,” Obama wrote to Jackson. “It was unprofessional and beneath the office that you once held. It was also disrespectful to me and the many friends you had in our administration. You were the personal physician to the President of the United States as well as an admiral in the U.S. Navy. I expect better, and I hope upon reflection that you will expect more of yourself in the future.”
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Jackson, who was also a White House physician to Presidents George W. Bush and Donald Trump, told Bartiromo that Obama “came at me pretty hard, and so I didn’t know exactly what I was going to do.” Reiterating what he wrote in his book, Jackson said he called Dan Bongino, a former Secret Service agent who is now a popular conservative commentator.
“Dan talked to me a little bit. He said, ‘Ronny, you don’t owe this guy anything. Don’t even respond to this. This is a load of crap,'” Jackson said. Jackson noted that he thought about replying to the email or calling Obama but decided not to follow through on either one, following Bongino’s lead.
Jackson was nominated by Trump to become secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs but withdrew in April 2018, as he faced allegations of unprofessional conduct. Jackson said he was subject to a “political hit job because I stood with President Trump,” and, according to Fox News, Bongino reminded him that Obama did nothing while Jackson was facing the Senate confirmation process.
