After Texas Republican Ronny Jackson was detained by law enforcement at a rodeo near Amarillo on Saturday, his office issued a statement to The Texas Tribune explaining what happened—including the clarification that the congressman “was not drinking.”
Jackson—who served as the White House doctor for Presidents George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Donald Trump before being elected to represent Texas’ 13th District in 2020—was attending the White Deer Rodeo, an event that takes place on the last weekend of every July in the town of White Deer, around 40 miles away from Amarillo.
The Republican congressman was the subject of a Department of Defense (DOD) inspector general report in 2021 that accused him of alleged misconduct, including drinking on the job, while serving as director of the White House Medical Unit. Allegations which Jackson has always denied and have not been reported to have been acted on.
On Monday, Jackson’s office released a further statement sharing more information on the incident, saying that the doctor was “summoned by someone in the crowd to assist a 15-year-old girl who was having a medical emergency nearby.”
While no news report commented on Jackson’s condition during this incident, his office has specified that he was sitting “in the stands during the entire rodeo, in full view of the assembled crowd, and was not drinking.”
Jackson came under scrutiny when a report from the DOD inspector general accused him of drinking alcohol while in his role at the White House, as well as taking Ambien sleeping pills and making inappropriate comments about a colleague’s breast and buttocks while on a presidential trip to Manila, Philippines, in 2014. Jackson has strongly denied all the allegations of misconduct.
According to National Public Radio, the word “alcohol” appeared 56 times in the 37-page report by the Defense Department.
The Republican said the report was part of a campaign to smear his reputation and was orchestrated by Democrats.
“Democrats are using this report to repeat and rehash untrue attacks on my integrity,” he said in 2021.
“My entire professional life has been defined by duty and service. I’ve honorably served my country in the U.S. Navy, served patients who trusted me with their care, served three Presidents in the White House, and now I serve the people of Texas’ 13th District in Congress. I have not, and will not ever, conduct myself in a way that undermines the sincerity with which I take my oath to my country or my constituents.”
Jackson retired from Navy with the rank of rear admiral in 2019 after 24 years in the service.
In the statement, Jackson’s office didn’t specify the condition of the girl, but said that there were “no uniformed EMS providers on the scene at the time” and the teenager was being attended by a relative, who was a nurse.
“While assessing the patient in a very loud and chaotic environment, confusion developed with law enforcement on the scene and Dr. Jackson was briefly detained and was actually prevented from further assisting the patient,” the statement read. “He was immediately released as soon as law enforcement realized that he, as a medical professional, was tending to the young girl’s medical emergency.”
It is not clear who detained the Republican congressman. In a statement to The Texas Tribune, local sheriff Tam Terry confirmed that one person was “temporarily detained” but did not reveal their identity. According to Terry, law enforcement was responding to calls during a concert at the rodeo on Saturday night.
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