“I have a message for the Biden administration,” Jackson, President Donald Trump’s former doctor, said in his video shared on Twitter, which garnered more than a million views in less than 24 hours. “If you’re thinking about getting our ARs, you can start right here in Texas. On behalf of all law-abiding gun owners in the state of Texas, I just want to say: come get it.” Captioning the video, Jackson added: “I will NEVER give up my firearms. I will NEVER surrender my AR-15. If the Democrats want to push a crazy gun grab, they can come GET IT!”. His impassioned defense of assault rifles came the same day a damning report was released detailing what a gun did to 19 children and two teachers at a school in his home state in May. It was also the same day a gunman with a rifle shot and killed three people in a food court at an Indiana mall. Jackson’s video came ahead of a House vote this week on the first assault weapons ban in nearly three decades. If passed into law, the bill would restrict the importation and sale of semi-automatic weapons with certain “military features,” but would not require confiscation of guns already owned by enthusiasts. Social media users reacted to Jackson’s show of strength with both dismay and amusement, with some pointing out the dangerous way he was holding his rifles, at least one of which appeared to be loaded. It’s not the first time the former Navy admiral has come in for ridicule. Jackson joined the White House Medical Unit as a doctor in 2006 and served under three presidents, but it was Trump who made him an ally and gave confidence in Jackson’s political ambitions. In 2018, Jackson courted the then-president by using a press briefing to say Trump was in “excellent health,” praise his “unbelievably good genes” and make the ludicrous claim that “if he had a healthier diet for the last 20 years, he can live up to 200 years.” Trump was so enamored with Jackson that he nominated the good doctor to be Secretary of Veterans Affairs. But Jackson eventually recused himself from the job after a series of allegations of wrongdoing against him came to light. Jackson was reportedly known to the White House medical staff as “the candy” for the way he dispensed powerful drugs to lawmakers “like candy.” A scathing 2021 report by the Defense Department’s inspector general also concluded that Jackson had smelled of alcohol while on the job and had “belittled, belittled, intimidated and humiliated” his subordinates, including making sexual comments about a junior female colleague. of. In response, Jackson said he had become “a political hit because I was with President Trump.” In May, the House Select Committee investigating the Capitol attack questioned Jackson about messages exchanged between members of the far-right Oath Keepers. The texts said the team needed to protect Jackson because he had “critical data.” Jackson refused to participate in the congressional committee’s investigation, calling it “illegal” and a “relentless crusade against President Trump and his allies.” Jackson’s rifle-loving clip comes after a Senate campaign video was released in which he held a Jackson shotgun, referring to the “Republicans in Name Only” despised by MAGA die-hards right.
