Donald Trump careened all over the place Tuesday on his stalled nomination for Veterans’ Affairs chief, Dr. Ronny Jackson. One second he blamed Democratic obstruction for Jackson's sudden implosion, the next he mused that if he were in Jackson's shoes, he'd bow out: "I wouldn’t do it.” By Tuesday afternoon, Trump had convinced everyone he was unofficially yet obviously giving Jackson the boot.
Couldn't come soon enough for some Republican senators, writes Politico.
One GOP senator, who requested anonymity, said the hope is that Trump withdraws the nomination sooner rather than later to avoid prolonging the pain. [...]
“The president says, ‘Oh yeah, I wouldn’t move forward with it.’ I mean, what does that say? If the president is going to put forward somebody’s name, he needs to have the confidence in that individual,” said Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska). “And if it’s just like kind of a knee-jerk, here’s a warm body? Then his team needs to work to make sure that the president sees the short-sightedness of that.”
Unfortunately for Republicans and Team Trump, it’s settling in that they now have zero influence over the occupier-in-chief. In fact, out of desperation, White House aides may have even planted the seeds that tripped up Jackson’s nomination.
Aides who‘ve come to realize they can’t control the president have taken to leaking negative information about advisers, Cabinet members and Cabinet nominees in hopes they can shape the president's personnel decisions — or torpedo them entirely — through the news media.
They may have to work a lot harder on nixing Jackson given the fact that EPA chief and serial headline grabber Scott Pruitt is still around.
Naturally, by Tuesday evening, Trump had changed course again, with his aides vigorously defending against allegations Jackson had improperly distributed drugs, drank on the job, and managed a toxic work environment.
Sen. Jon Tester, the top Democrat on the Veterans’ Affairs Committee, elaborated on Jackson's woes to several outlets, including the New York Times:
Members of Mr. Tester’s staff said that they had been given several credible accounts of Dr. Jackson being intoxicated during official White House travel. [...]
On one trip during Barack Obama’s presidency, White House staff needed to reach Dr. Jackson for medical reasons and found him passed out in his hotel room after a night of drinking, Tester aides said. The staff members took the medical supplies they were looking for without waking Dr. Jackson.
In response, White House officials described Dr. Jackson’s record as “impeccable,” and they distributed glowing comments that they said Mr. Obama wrote in Dr. Jackson’s annual military performance review.
It’s anyone’s guess as to how long Trump will hang in there with Dr. Jackson before tiring of him. The good doc did plug Trump’s “stamina” and “incredible genes” during the least believable presidential health briefing in recent memory. And Trump sure does love a liar and a loyalist.