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Friends. people are quite shocked he would receive the nomination. especially people who have worked there. you know what working there is like and you know the challenges that the v.a. secretaries face. he doesn't have the political experience, the policy experience. it would be very difficult for him to be successful in that environment. >> what do you need from your own personal experience working there, what do you need to be a successful leader in that position? >> well, you need to have experience managing thousands and thousands of people with as many people that work there. you have to...

>> reporter: thank you. were any of these background checks or since he was named for nominee of the v.a. secretary, has the white house ever been informed about these allegations, like excessively drinking on the job or passing out medication like candy since he was the physician for president trump? >> i'm not aware of any of those allegations being made until the nomination was made. >> reporter: and to follow up on what i was asking about the background check. when was his most recent background check? >> i'd have to look at the specific date but my understanding is that a new one took pla...

You know, which led me to ask a follow-up question about something that was raised in this briefing and that is why is it that the united states seems to be dropping when it comes to rankings of press freedom all around the world during this administration. it just happened recently, somebody asked about it in the room. i asked sarah sanders are you saying this administration is some sort of champion of a free press. she feels because she come up to the podium and answers questions that somehow makes them champions of the free press. just about any mayor spokes person or gubernatorial spokeper...

Of doing the job, he wouldn't have announced his nomination in the first place. >> reporter: just since you brought up being taken out of context, it seems to be a press-related question. are you trying to say this administration is a champion of a free press? >> i certainly think as i stated a moment ago, we support a prepress but we also for a fair press and i think those things should go hand in hand and there's a certainly responsibility by the press to report accurate information. >> reporter: is there a responsibility on the part of the president? >> i think people do their best every da...

Given time. >> and knowing ronny jackson's character, i find it hard to believe as on-duty physician, i would -- >> i got you, i got you. >> even if all of this stuff is false, he's still not qualified to run this agency. >> this is low-hanging fruit in the whole narrative of what's going on here. what should be going on is can he execute -- >> which was the initial focus and then out come these stories and the allegations that now members of congress have paused the hearings because they want to find out are they true. we were just talking to our chief white house considered and he was pointi...