Veterans of the United States military are struggling, and they have been for a long time.
“Many of them are taking their own life,” U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs Doug Collins tells Blaze Media co-founder Glenn Beck on “The Glenn Beck Program.” “We’ve got to try something differently here, because we’re not moving the needle.”
“Since 2008, the suicide number has not changed in this country, and yet we’re spending $588 million or more every year to quote, ‘prevent it.’ But yet, in our services, we’re still treating it many times with medicine,” he continues.
However, as America starts on the path to making itself healthy again, the VA is beginning to look at alternative forms of medicine to help veterans who otherwise feel forgotten.
“We’re looking at alternative medicines. We’re looking at hyperbaric chambers, we’re looking at possible use of psychedelics along with counseling, anything we can to get them the help that they need so they don’t feel like the VA is not listening to them or they’re just getting handed a bottle of pills,” Collins explains.
Glenn believes this is a good direction to head in, especially considering how much energy is put into preparing veterans for war — but not what they’ll be facing when they come home.
“We train our people to be able to go in and pull the trigger when they have to, but is it fair to say we spend all that money doing that, but when they come home, we don’t spend enough money and enough time to try to deprogram that, to bring them back into our society,” Glenn says.
The Department of Defense is responsible for the transition of veterans back into society, which Collins has made clear needs reworking to the Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.
“This is why the secretary of defense and I are on an unprecedented level,” Collins tells Glenn. “So I just told Pete, I said, ‘We’ve got to fix this, we’ve got to start working on this. You may own it, but I’m getting blamed for it. And I’m not going to get blamed for something I can’t do.’”
“So right now, we’re working on getting that transition better,” he continues, adding, “So that we have a warm handoff, especially for those who are hurting already.”
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The liberal media, like the Democratic Party, has struggled in recent months to manufacture a Russia collusion-grade narrative capable of embarrassing or hindering the Trump administration.
This explains their excitement over the Atlantic's Monday story concerning a liberal propagandist's accidental inclusion in a top-level group chat concerning a military operation — a blunder that the man responsible, national security adviser Mike Waltz, ultimately admitted was "embarrassing."
In the grips of this excitement, CNN talking head Kaitlan Collins proved almost incapable Wednesday evening of discussing anything else with Secretary of Veterans Affairs Doug Collins, who was not part of the group chat and had virtually nothing to do with the matter.
Unwilling to indulge the CNN host's desire to gossip or to go on the defensive, Sec. Doug Collins turned the tables, set the agenda, and hammered the liberal network over its apparent mistreatment of veterans.
At the outset of the interview, the CNN host said, "You served in the Navy and the Air Force. How would you have felt if information like this was talked about, in an unclassified group chat, if a Navy fighter pilot is in the air?"
'Since you undoubtedly do not want to talk about the VA, I have a question.'
"I think the president and those involved in the chat, which I was not involved in the chat, have explained that. I trust the president's opinion on that. I trust what's been going on," said Sec. Collins. "Everyone's entitled to their own opinion. And my opinion is that my job is to take care of veterans in this country, as they come out of service, and that's what I'm going to continue to do."
The CNN host did not take the hint and kept asking the VA secretary about the group chat controversy.
"Kaitlan, as I've just told you, I've just answered the question. I wasn't part of it," said Sec. Collins. "And I'm not going to speculate more than what the president's already talked about and those who have been involved have talked about, but would love to talk about the veterans."
The CNN host asked once again about the Signal group chat, evidently stretching Sec. Collins' patience to its limit.
"Since you undoubtedly do not want to talk about the VA, I have a question, as VA secretary," said Sec. Collins. "I want to ask you — because I've been curious about this, because my job is to take care of veterans — and I would like to know why CNN is hostile to veterans, especially one in Florida where you just had a $5 million defamation suit, taking offense at a veteran who was trying to help people. In fact, one of your employees actually said, 'We're going to nail him.'"
Sec. Collins was referring to CNN's costly smear of Navy veteran Zachary Young, whom the liberal network falsely accused in a 2021 "The Lead with Jake Tapper" segment of illegally participating in a "black market" for exfiltration services in Afghanistan after the Biden administration's disastrous military withdrawal.
In January, a jury in Florida ordered the network to pay $5 million for its defamatory segment, reported the New York Times. Before the jury had a chance to award more punitive damages in the case, CNN reportedly settled for an undisclosed sum.
During the trial, the jury saw internal CNN communications in which CNN chief national security correspondent Alexander Marquardt stated, "We gonna nail this Zachary Young."
'You want to talk about everything else.'
Sec. Collins asked the CNN host Wednesday, "Is that employee still employed? Are you really concerned about veterans?"
"If we don't want to talk about veterans now, and you want to talk about everything else, I'd like to hear from CNN, as the veteran Cabinet secretary, why CNN seems to have a problem with veterans?" continued Sec. Collins.
The CNN talking head desperately tried to take control of the conversation, but Sec. Collins did not let up.
"Answer my question, Kaitlan," said the secretary.
When the answers failed to materialize, Sec. Collins indicated again that his preference was to discuss veterans and their priorities rather than to join her in idle speculation.
The CNN host then unironically stated in reference to the secretary's questions about CNN's defamation of a veteran that she had no involvement in the matter he was interested in discussing.
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The Department of Veterans Affairs announced on Monday that it would "phase out" offering "gender-affirming prosthetics" and cross-sex hormones, citing President Donald Trump's executive order directing the federal government to eradicate gender ideology.
The executive action, "Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government," recognized two sexes that are "not changeable and are grounded in fundamental and incontrovertible reality."
'They can do so on their own dime.'
The VA's Monday announcement explained that the department is "adjusting its policies to fully comply with the EO," which includes no longer providing veterans with "cross-sex hormone therapy" or "any other medical or surgical therapy for gender dysphoria to any patients in any circumstance."
The VA stated that it never provided "sex-change surgeries." However, in addition to cross-sex hormones, it has offered voice training and "so-called gender-affirming prosthetics, including breast forms, chest binders, dilator sets for post-vaginoplasty, packers, surgical compression vests, and wigs."
Veterans already receiving cross-sex hormones will not be impacted by the change.
The VA noted that those with gender dysphoria can continue to receive preventive and mental health care.
"Any and all savings VA achieves by stopping specific medical treatments for gender dysphoria will be redirected to help severely injured VA beneficiaries — such as paralyzed Veterans and amputees — regain their independence," the press release read.
VA Secretary Doug Collins stated, "I mean no disrespect to anyone, but VA should not be focused on helping Veterans attempt to change their sex. The vast majority of Veterans and Americans agree, and that is why this is the right decision."
"All eligible Veterans — including trans-identified Veterans — will always be welcome at VA and will always receive the benefits and services they've earned under the law. But if Veterans want to attempt to change their sex, they can do so on their own dime," he added.
Over the weekend, Collins was questioned about the Department of Government Efficiency's efforts to trim waste and bureaucracy within the VA.
"At the end of the day, I'm gonna make decisions best for my employees and best for the veterans, and they're giving us some good advice, looking with fresh eyes," Collins stated.
"We're going to do everything we possibly can to make sure that the veteran experience gets better," Collins said, noting that it is the "biggest issue" the VA faces.
Since Trump took office, the VA has already opened four new clinics.
"As government union bosses, the legacy media, and some in Congress have been spreading false rumors of health care and benefits cuts at VA, we've opened multiple brand-new clinics that will serve tens of thousands of veterans," Collins remarked.
"Don't believe the fake news," he added.
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The forced closure of a Los Angeles-based Veterans Affairs clinic due to the city’s anti-ICE riots has led to more than 600 appointments “having to be rescheduled,” according to the agency. The revelation was disclosed in a pair of Thursday letters sent to California Gov. Gavin Newsom and L.A. Mayor Karen Bass by VA Secretary […]
The VA has been 'mismanaged for a long time ... and there are effective changes that could be made right now' to improve treatment access for veterans.
Doug Collins' takedown of CNN's Kaitlin Collins is exactly how all Republicans should treat dishonest and disingenuous media hacktivists
The Department of Veterans Affairs announced plans to 'phase out' distributing chemical castration drugs to trans-identifying veterans.
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'We will be looking at that issue when I get in there to confirm that the VA is actually following the law.'
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