President Trump seized on comments made by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a frequent lightning rod for criticism by Republicans, that Veterans Affairs is not broken – but that’s not all she said about the federal agency.
“Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is correct, the VA is not broken, it is doing great. But that is only because of the Trump Administration. We got Veterans Choice & Accountability passed,” the president wrote on Twitter Wednesday.
“‘President Trump deserves a lot of credit.’ Dan Caldwell, Concerned Veterans of America,” Trump continued.
In a speech last week, the freshman Democrat addressed a proposal to privatize parts of the VA.
“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” Ocasio-Cortez said, adding that it provides the “highest quality healthcare.”
But she had more to say.
“They are trying to fix it. But who are they trying to fix it for? That’s that question we have to ask,” she said during a town hall in the Bronx last Tuesday.
“And this is who they’re trying to fix it for: They’re trying to fix the VA for pharmaceutical companies, they’re trying to fix the VA for insurance corporations and ultimately they’re trying to fix the VA for for-profit health care industry that does not put people or veterans first,” she said. “We have a responsibility to protect it.”
In a Twitter post from last Thursday, Ocasio-Cortez urged Congress not to “starve it + then sell it off for parts.”
“We should fight to fully fund the VA + hire to fill its 49,000 vacancies,” she said.
Trump signed the VA Mission Act in June 2018 that would expand private health care options for veterans.
But critics say it would lead to privatization of the VA, erode the quality of care and harm veterans.