Congressman Ronny Jackson, former White House physician, was reportedly demoted from a Navy admiral to a captain despite saying otherwise on his website.
The Navy demoted Jackson in July 2022 following a Pentagon inspector general’s report that substantiated allegations about his inappropriate behavior as a White House physician, the Washington Post reported.
The 2021 report found that Jackson berated subordinates in the White House medical unit, “made sexual and denigrating statements” about a female subordinate, consumed alcohol inappropriately with subordinates, and consumed the sleep drug Ambien while on duty as the president’s physician.
But on Jackson’s website, he does not acknowledge the demotion.
“As a retired U.S. Navy Rear Admiral with nearly three decades of military service I understand the commitment and sacrifices made by servicemen and servicewomen to serve our country,” the two-term congressman for Texas 13 wrote on his website under a veterans' issues tab.
The Washington Post reports that Jackson has continued to refer to himself as a retired rear admiral after the Navy reclassified him. Fellow Republicans, including President Donald Trump, also use Jackson’s former rank when referring to him.
Whether other party members knew of his demotion is unclear.
Even if others mistakenly refer to Jackson as an “Admiral”, he should not, Katherine L. Kuzminski, a military policy expert at Center for a New American Security, told the Post.
In his July 2022 memoir, “Holding the Line,” Jackson did not address the prospect of demotion and said the inspector general’s report was politically motivated.
“If I had retired and not gotten into politics, this investigation would have never gone anywhere,” Jackson wrote. “This was happening because I am a perceived threat to the Biden administration and because a few political appointees in the Department of Defense want to make a name for themselves.”
Copyright 2024 KERA. To see more, visit KERA.