Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-Amarillo) can no longer truthfully call himself a retired admiral. Following a Pentagon special investigation, he has been demoted to captain because of numerous examples of misconduct, including sexual harassment and drug abuse while on duty.
Jackson retired from the U.S. Navy as a rear admiral in 2019. While still on active duty, he served as the White House’s medical unit’s director from 2010 to 2014 and as chief physician to the president 2013 to 2018. Former president Barack Obama promoted Jackson to admiral for his work, and Jackson continued in the position under former President Trump.
Trump then nominated Jackson to be Secretary of Veteran Affairs, prompting a Senate committee to look into Jackson’s record. The subsequent report found 12 complaints about Jackson’s behavior. These include engaging in alcohol-related misconduct including abusing subordinates and wrecking a government vehicle, as well as abuse of the sleep drug Ambien.
One female subordinate says Jackson knocked on her door late at night while drunk and said, “I need you.” She is quoted as saying, “I really felt it was a sexually inappropriate comment.”
On a trip to Manila, Jackson allegedly told female staffers that they had “great tits” and a “nice ass,” while saying he would like to examine their tattoos.
All of this prompted the Pentagon to demote Jackson to captain. This resulted in a loss of $15,000 annually in his military pension. As of this writing, Jackson still refers to himself as an admiral on his website.
Jackson retired from the Navy in 2019 to run for congress in his native Texas, a long-shot candidacy that succeeded thanks to enthusiastic backing from Trump. Trump has remained a fan of Jackson’s, and the now-captain has responded by repeatedly calling President Joe Biden too infirm to be president.
Starting in 2021, Jackson began sending letters to Biden demanding the president take a cognitive test. In 2023, he released a public statement on the matter.
“The American people deserve to have absolute confidence in their President and trust that he or she can perform his or her duties,” he wrote. “Meanwhile, Joe Biden’s mental health is sharply deteriorating while the whole world watches. This is not a political issue, even Democrats are losing faith in the man they put in the White House. Americans WANT a mentally fit leader and reassurance that the man they elected is a cognitively sound Commander in Chief. I administered a cognitive test to President Donald J. Trump, and it’s time that President Biden is held to the same standard. The American people deserve answers. If Biden can’t step up to the plate and take a cognitive test, then he shouldn’t run for President again.”
Biden’s current White House physician, Kevin O’Connor, who is has not been accused of drinking on the job or sexually harassing subordinates, has said that Biden does not require a cognitive exam.
