Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins confronted a reporter for publishing articles based on rumors.
This comes as President Donald Trump aired grievances in a social media post about books and stories being published “with the so-called ‘anonymous,’ or ‘off the record,’ quotes.” Trump threatened to sue the writers behind the pieces.
Reporter Patricia Kime was in the middle of a sit-down interview with Collins when he aired his own grievances. Their exchange was recorded, and Collins shared the clip on X.
“I need your help. I need your help because all I seem to be doing lately is fighting back against innuendo and rumor stories,” Collins explained. “This is what I seem to be fighting about all time. In fact, Patricia, part of it is with you. I just need your help because when you start headlines with, ‘there’s a rumor going around’ and that ‘we’ve heard that,’ that hurts my veterans, that scares my veterans, that scares my employees because it’s not true. Will you commit to not doing that in the future?”
Collins and Kime argued back and forth about her previous coverage. According to the VA secretary, Kime’s work could use more of the word “unconfirmed.” Kime stood by her actions and made a soft commitment to improve. Collins referred to himself as “the most transparent VA Secretary we’ve had yet” and assured her they would continue to work together.
VETERANS AFFAIRS SECRETARY REVEALS ALMOST $2 BILLION SAVED IN CUT CONTRACTS
The VA recently ended $2 billion in contracts Collins deemed no longer necessary, and roughly 1,000 employees were laid off. According to the Office of the Inspector General, there were almost 3,000 staff shortages across the department last year.
Collins suggested further contracts could be cut to save the department even more.
