{"id":59542,"date":"2020-03-02T17:43:55","date_gmt":"2020-03-02T17:43:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/uncategorized\/2020\/03\/02\/va-secretary-steps-into-election-campaign-blasts-socialism-as-bad-for-veterans-care\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T10:18:47","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T10:18:47","slug":"va-secretary-steps-into-election-campaign-blasts-socialism-as-bad-for-veterans-care","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/veterans\/2020\/03\/02\/va-secretary-steps-into-election-campaign-blasts-socialism-as-bad-for-veterans-care\/","title":{"rendered":"VA secretary steps into election campaign, blasts socialism as bad for veterans care"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2020\/02\/27\/va-secretary-under-investigation-for-attempts-to-discredit-staffers-claims-of-sexual-assault\/\" target=_blank>Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie<\/a> warned his department\u2019s core services \u201cwould be gone\u201d if socialist ideals were to take over America \u2014 a swipe at the<a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2019\/11\/18\/military-times-questionnaire-sen-bernie-sanders\/\" target=_blank> Democratic front runner<\/a> to replace President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIf socialism became the coin of the realm, that [care for veterans] would be gone,\u201d Wilkie said in an interview with the far-right media outlet Breitbart at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference on Friday. \u201cThat place that was promised for warriors would disappear.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The event, which had an announced theme of \u201cAmerica vs. Socialism,\u201d featured Republican leaders attacking their political foes as dangerous for the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2020\/02\/28\/trump-says-us-will-sign-afghanistan-peace-deal-with-taliban-first-step-in-bringing-troops-home\/\" target=\"_blank\">President Donald Trump<\/a> appeared at the event Friday and promised his administration is \u201cdefeating the radical socialist Democrats.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Wilkie attended the event but did not take the stage to give a speech. He told Breitbart that \u201csocialism would wipe (VA) out\u201d if allowed to take over American politics.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2020\/02\/27\/va-secretary-under-investigation-for-attempts-to-discredit-staffers-claims-of-sexual-assault\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP_18269745000658.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">VA secretary under investigation for attempts to discredit staffer\u2019s claims of sexual assault<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">The department inspector general has opened a formal case to see whether Robert Wilkie worked to undermine the congressional aide.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Wilkie\u2019s remarks came as Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., a self-described democratic socialist, took the lead in the Democratic presidential primary race.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Wilkie did not mention Sanders by name in the interview but said he has \u201cconcerns\u201d about public support for socialist ideas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While past VA secretaries have frequently promoted their administration\u2019s achievements, most have refrained from directly attacking the president\u2019s political rivals during election years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Wilkie also praised Trump for his efforts to revamp VA community care rules in recent years, noting that the new VA Mission Act signed into law last summer significantly increased the number of veterans receiving private sector care in conjunction with department oversight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThat is a massive reform,\u201d he said. \u201cThe president has taken \u2018Choice\u2019 and given it new meaning. We\u2019re seeing it work on a scale that has really confounded critics.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sanders, who sits on the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee and previously served as the panel\u2019s chairman, has been a vocal critic of the Trump administration\u2019s plans to expand veterans access to private sector care at taxpayers expense, saying they would be better served by improving staffing and funding within the existing VA footprint.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2020\/02\/27\/va-spending-plan-turns-into-election-year-political-fight\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP19323625190106.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">VA spending plan turns into election year political fight<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">The department is planning for more than $243 billion in funding next year, its highest budget ever.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sanders also has accused Trump of working to privatize certain VA responsibilities, in order to weaken federal support services and boost profits for private companies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In recent public appearances, Wilkie has countered those claims, saying that VA\u2019s budget has continued to increase under Trump and that veterans are better served by having numerous options for medical care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sanders holds a slim lead in delegates for the Democratic presidential nomination after the first four primary contests of the 2020 election season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Fourteen more states will hold primaries this Tuesday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Robert Wilkie made the remarks just a few days before a major primary showdown for Democrats.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":94414,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":19,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[100,23,93,12,25,68,19],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3334],"class_list":["post-59542","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-home","category-middle-column","category-news","category-newsletters","category-pentagon-congress","category-veterans"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"JGVITNINGNEK3LHATUI6QK6ADQ","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2020\/03\/02\/va-secretary-steps-into-election-campaign-blasts-socialism-as-bad-for-veterans-care\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented 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