MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The new VA Secretary is in hot water after lying about his service in the military.
While speaking to a homeless veteran, Secretary Bob McDonald told him he had been a member of the US Special Forces.
He’s supposed to be repairing the Department of Veteran Affairs reputation, but now McDonald is trying to repair his own.
“He should apologize to the military and say he’s sorry,” one local vet said.
While at a homeless veteran count in Los Angles, McDonald told a vet there the two of them had something in common.
“You were in the Special Forces?” he asked. “I was in the Special Forces.”
The problem is, that was a lie.
McDonald served in the Army for five years. He graduated from Ranger school, but never served in a Ranger unit and was never a member of any special force team.
“We all tell little white lies, and the Christian thing to do is to forgive and forget,” one veteran said of the Secretary’s comment.
McDonald issued an apology, saying he has no excuse.
It is the second time he has backtracked in the last week. In an interview, McDonald said he fired 60 VA workers for issues related to the department’s wait time scandal. As it turns out, only eight were let go.
Local veterans said they hoped McDonald would fix the VA, but as the lies pile up, some are not sure he is the man for the job.
“It’s going to be hard for him,” one veteran said. “Maybe he needs to step down and let someone else do it.”
WREG tried reaching out to Representative Steve Cohen’s office for comment. They said they weren’t available to talk. Calls to Senator Lamar Alexander’s office and Senator Bob Corker’s office were never returned.