Veterans Affairs (VA) Secretary Doug Collins delivered a masterclass on how to fight back against biased media, confronting a reporter directly over an article she wrote laced with plenty of rumors and innuendo.
Collins, in a conversation with Military.com reporter Patricia Kime on Tuesday, went directly at her over a report she filed regarding Elon Musk’s DOGE team’s access to the VA’s computer systems.
The article is supported by terms such as “rumors began circulating” and “she had heard that.”
The terms are more appropriate for a gossip session at the local barbershop but maybe not for a publication reporting on military and veteran affairs.
Collins literally pulled the article out of his pocket and began pointing out several instances in which the reporting aspect of the story had been a bit shoddy.
“I need your help because all I seem to be doing lately is fighting back against innuendo and rumor stories. And this is what I seem to be fighting about all the time,” the Air Force veteran began. “In fact, Patricia, part of it is with you.”
“And 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.” he continued. “Will you commit to not doing that in the future?”