White House physician, Ronny Jackson, withdrew his nomination as VA Secretary this morning. I’ll admit, I was skeptical of the nomination because I wasn’t sure his experience as the doctor to three Presidents would translate into what is necessary to clean up the troubled Veterans Administration.

However, the focus wasn’t on what skills and talents he would bring to the job. The focus wasn’t on his ideas as to how to make the VA better for all our Veterans. The focus wasn’t on any ideas he has to better the communication between the VA and patients or how to finally get the Denver VA hospital built without incurring any more costs.

Nope, instead the knives were out in force, leading to the media “bombshell” stories about supposed drinking, car accidents, pill pushing, and hostile work environment. Which led to this morning’s statement from Jackson.

One of the greatest honors in my life has been to serve this country as a physician both on the battlefield with United States Marines and as proud member of the United States Navy.

It has been my distinct honor and privilege to work at the White House and serve three Presidents.

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 integrity.

The allegations against me are completely false and fabricated. If they had any merit, I would not have been selected, promoted and entrusted to serve in such a sensitive and important role as physician to three presidents over the past 12 years.

In my role as a doctor, I have tirelessly worked to provide excellent care for all my patients. In doing so, I have always adhered to the highest ethical standards.

Unfortunately, because of how Washington works, these false allegations have become a distraction for this President and the important issue we must be addressing – how we give the best care to our nation’s heroes.

While I will forever be grateful for the trust and confidence President Trump has placed in me by giving me this opportunity, I am regretfully withdrawing my nomination to be Secretary for the Department of Veterans Affairs.

I am proud of my service to the country and will always be committed to the brave veterans who volunteer to defend our freedoms.

Needless to say, the media applauded.

Here’s my problem with this entire scenario of what is being gossiped about regarding Jackson.

WHERE IS THE EVIDENCE?

Here is a man who has served as the doctor for three Presidents. Here is a man who, by the very nature of his job and whom he is working directly for must not only deal with background checks, but must go through major vetting multiple times in order to keep his Top Secret security clearance. Given that Jackson has served three Presidents (Bush, Obama through both administrations, and now Trump), it’s only logical that he has been vetted multiple times.

Therefore, I ask again, WHERE is the evidence of all of his supposed wrongdoings?

• Where is the evidence that he pushed pills?
• Where is the evidence that he wrecked cars?
• Where is the evidence that he was drunk on the job multiple times?
• Where is the evidence that he was a big ole meanie boss?

Senator Jon Tester (D-MT) ran to the media and threw all this information out there without a single actual fact to back up his allegations.

Ronny Jackson withdraws.

Dems smeared a great American with baseless allegations. @chuckschumer should be ashamed of himself.

— John Cardillo (@johncardillo) April 26, 2018

.@CLewandowski_: "[Dr. Ronny Jackson] is an individual who President Obama gave the highest recommendations for and the highest praise for. Where were the critics at that time?" #Outnumbered pic.twitter.com/Xq9ejRzqvN

— Fox News (@FoxNews) April 26, 2018

And for that, a good man who may or may not have been a good candidate for Secretary of the VA, withdrew his nomination.

Again, all we have is a slew of unfounded accusations with no credible evidence to back them up. This benefits NO ONE.

Was Dr. Ronny Jackson the best pick for the job? You know what? We’ll never know because instead of looking at and trying to understand what he COULD do for our Veterans and fixing up the VA, we are inundated with innuendo and gossip.

There is nothing to celebrate here and for darn sure there are no winners in this mess.