Dem Senator: VA Is Doing a 'Pretty Darn Good Job'

On Wednesday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT) defended the Department of Veterans Affairs despite a handful of recent deaths pinned to so-called “secret waitlists” at its hospitals.

Tester, a member of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, said despite these incidents, the VA is doing a “good job” in a broad overall sense.

“I think if you take a look at some of the things positive that’s happen in the VA, and there’s a lot to talk about from a positive standpoint, I think that they’ve done a pretty remarkable job if you consider all the folks coming back from Iraq, Afghanistan, doing right by the Vietnam vets – the injuries they’re coming back with are pretty intense especially the ones we can’t see. I think that the VA is doing a pretty darn good job. Now, that being said – if one veteran died because somebody screwed up on a waitlist, that’s far too many.”

“Morning Joe” host Joe Scarborough took exception with Tester’s proclamation and suggested he may be one of the few people to defend the agency.

“I’ve got to say, there are a lot of veterans that would take exception to you saying, quote, ‘The VA is doing a pretty good job,’” Scarborough replied. “If you think the VA is doing a pretty good job, I think you may be one of the only people, not only in Washington, D.C. that thinks the VA is doing a good job but maybe one of the very few people in America who believe that.”

(h/t RNC Research)

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