Ronny Jackson is a former Marines Medicine Physician and eventually he became a physician for the White House. Serving active duty during the offices of Bush, Obama and Trump, Jackson is now running for Congress in the 13th Congressional District of Texas. In an exclusive interview, Jackson talks about a multitude of topics such as his experience in service and current world events.

Q: As a public figure, you are constantly a target for false accusations. How do you go about correcting misinformation while maintaining professionalism?

A: “It’s difficult in today’s world with all the social media out there and people are so polarized, so I think you do what you can, you get online and correct your record to the extent that you can. But a large part of the way it works today you need to have thick skin and you have to just ignore a lot of it. Get out and find a way to talk to the constituents that are going to vote for you, which is what I’ve done on Facebook and Twitter to a certain extent. But you have to ignore the other stuff that’s on the other side of the aisle. As a republican running in the most conservative district in the country I just have to ignore a lot of what happens in the far left, in the liberal press, because it’s not going to be accurate no matter what I do. And i’m not going to get a platform or stage to correct everything that’s out there that’s false. So you aggressively do it but also you don’t let it slow you down.”

Q: What would you say is the biggest problem America is facing today, and if you do win this election how do you plan to fix that problem?

A: “I think the biggest issue we have today is the insecurity from a health standpoint with covid. From an economic standpoint y’know, related to covid, with the economy taking a big dip. The law and order issue, the physical safety from what’s going on in other parts of the country, where entire communities have lost control of law and order. And y’know criminals are just running amuck. I think those are the biggest issues, it’s a sense of fear among folks in this district, that those kind of things with the lack of law in order in these other places of the country are gonna come here. and the need to get past this coronavirus, get our economy back up and running. So I think it’s really just a sense of unknowing, insecurity and just not knowing where we’re heading on a lot of fronts. It’s got people worried and people aren’t willing to get out and do things and take risks cause we don’t know where we’re heading next. I think what we gotta do to correct that is we gotta get our economy back up and running, we gotta get past this coronavirus, I think we get a vaccine and that’ll help to some extent. But I think we need to take risks, there’s an acceptable risk in my mind, getting back to work getting back to school, especially for folks your age. To be honest with you, if you get coronavirus it doesn’t mean you can’t spread it to someone else, but the chances that you’re gonna get significantly ill are pretty low and we know that. So I think we have to accept a certain amount of risk now, get back to work, get back to school, get our economy back up and running and then we have to get the republicans back in the house. We have to take the house back so the republicans so we could have the house, the senate and the white house so we could reestablish some law in order in these cities that are run by liberal mayors and governors. Cause I think a lot of what’s happening is being encouraged by certain politicians for political reasons which is unfortunate but it’s reality.”

Q: With all of your experience in different career paths, which career do you feel has been the most rewarding for you.

A: “That’s kind of a hard question, I think the thing I’ve enjoyed the most is my operational background being a diver and a doctor, and being a doctor assigned to diving units. Traveling all over the world with salvage divers, disposal teams, navy seals and y’know getting the opportunity to jump out of airplanes, fast rope out of helicopters and lock out of submarines with seal team and things like that. That was the most exciting part of my career early on when I was doing a lot of that kind of stuff. I guess the most rewarding is being a physician, obviously helping other folks as a physician. And obviously being a physician in the combat zone, being a physician on the battlefield, seeing first hand on having a direct impact on whether or not someone lives or dies. So I would say that’s probably the most professionally fulfilling.”

Q: What would you say was the major differences between President Barack Obama and Trump, and how did you stay unbiased while working with someone who may have shared different political beliefs with you.

A: “Well it’s pretty easy when working for president Obama because I was on active duty. I didn’t have a political appointment and as an active duty military officer, especially as a navy flag officer, as a rear admiral of the navy you don’t really express your political opinion when you’re in the course of your duties. You can do that privately when you get home and when you take your uniform off, but you have be very careful about the way you express yourself politically. Especially when you’re working directly for the commander in chief. To be honest with you I didn’t agree with anything politically that happened during the years of the Obama administration. But I was an officer in the military first and foremost, so I kept my political opinions to myself. That changed when I was in the trump administration, my last year and a half in it I got a political appointment as assistant to the president and senior advisor to the president. At that point even though I was on active duty I also had a political appointment and I could express myself a little bit more. But I still couldn’t come out and say everything I wanted, because I still had a military commission. But once I got out, I retired from the navy December of last year, I was free to speak my mind and express my political views and I did. Quickly within a matter of days I was running for office here in the 13th congressional district. So you just know what your role is and whenever you’re on active duty as a military officer your role’s pretty defined. With regards to the difference between the two I would say they’re just vastly politically and from a personality stand point president Obama is much more reserved and even had the nickname no drama Obama. That was true in a lot of ways, there weren’t a lot of highs and there weren’t a lot of lows, he was kind of even keeled all the time. Whereas president Trump is much more outspoken and gets spun up about things. Which actually i’m like that as well, so I appreciate that and I thought it made the job much more exciting as well. Working for Trump and Obama was exciting because there was a little bit of drama and that makes any job more interesting.”

Q: Many People would say that politics have become almost aggressive in nature. Since you have spent some time in Washington, when did you first notice the switch in politics going from tolerable to more of a hostile topic of conversation.

A: “I think probably during the second term of the Obama administration things started getting polarized and in my opinion the reason for that is pretty much everything we did as a country revolved around identity politics. Straight vs gay, black vs white, man vs woman, rich vs poor. It really forced people all across the country to feel like they had to pick a side. I didn’t think that did our country any favors, I don’t think we need to pick teams I think we all need to be Americans, one team, one fight. So I think over the last 7 years is when it changed.”

Q: With biased media and heavy parental influence, what advice would you give to young voters who are seeking to politically educate themselves but don’t know where to start.

A: “I’d say just to keep an open mind and don’t let anyone tell you what to think. I mean y’know look at different sources, look at stuff on the left and the right opinions. Of course talk to your parents as well, obviously there’s things that you realize when you get older that you had a different view point on things when you were younger just because maybe a little bit of a rebellious nature. But when you get older you realize you probably thought the same way they did, you just saw it through a different lenses. But y’know talk to your parents, see what they say and learn to have political conversations with your colleagues without getting so spun up about it. Learn to agree to disagree and I think if you could become friends with folks that think differently than you do, then you’ll be much more likely to form an educated opinion about something.”

Q: With everything that is currently going on in the world, most of our country has been left feeling divided from one another. What do you think is one way we could help lessen the political divide.

A: “I think if we could figure out how to approach the solution to the coronavirus without getting political about it at all, just take the politics completely out of the issue that would help a lot. But I don’t know, we’ve gone so far down this road i’m not really sure. Y’know folks on the right, the left and congress don’t really talk to each other much anymore. But we’re gonna have to get back to that. So I think what we have to do is, and what i’ll try to do when I get into congress is learn to get to know people on the other side of the aisle. I probably won’t agree with them politically, but I should at least get to know them on a personal level so we could have conversations outside of politics. I think if we can do that we’d be much more likely to listen to the other side.”

Q: With the current political tension, many people our age feel as if our country is on a path towards civil war. Do you think our country is indeed so decided that it is plausible for something like that to happen?

A: “I certainly hope not, I don’t think so and I hope that’s not the case. It would be a horrible outcome for the country in general and there would be no winner or loser in that. So hopefully that’s not the way we’re heading, we’ll see how things play out, but I don’t think people are that unhinged to be honest with you.”

Q: What is one thing you have learned from each president you have served under that will help your political career.

A: “I’ve looked at different leadership styles among the 3 presidents I served and I’ve known other presidents as well through serving them. I think the most important thing that you can do is say what you’re gonna do and do what you say you’re gonna do. I’ve learned the recipe for disaster is to try to pander to both sides and trying to manipulate your narrative to suit your audience. That’s just not a good plan, it’s not a good way to operate. You should just speak your mind no matter who you’re talking to and be honest about what your thoughts are. And I’ve seen politicians do it both ways, if you try to manipulate your message based on your audience it’s not a good way to go.”

Q: What is your view on the rioting that is currently happening in our nation and how should Americans or our politicians respond.

A: “Well I think it’s a shame and it’s disgusting, I don’t approve of it on any level. I’m a big supporter of peaceful protest, I think that’s what this country was built on. But this is not protest, when you are victimizing your neighbors and law abiding citizens. Looting, stealing, burning smaller businesses and that’s no longer protest. That’s crossed the line, that’s anarchy and that’s just criminal. There’s two different sides, there’s an anarchist side who wants to cause as much havoc as possible, ANTIFA and folks like that they just wanna destroy and cause as much disturbance in our cultures. Then there’s the criminal side who’s just using it as an opportunity to go out and steal to be quite honestly. So I think we gotta get control of it, I think president Trump’s gonna get more and more aggressive. He’s been patient, he tried to give the governors and mayors opportunities to fix it on their own. He’s tried to respect riots and try to stay out of the local and state politics. But there comes a point where he’s got an obligation as our commander in chief, as our head of state, as our chief executive to step in and to protect the citizens. He’s responsible for citizens across the country and when they’re being victimized, their local leaders will do nothing about it eventually the president will have the responsibility to take on that role.”

Q: What is the number one challenge you are anticipating after the November election?

A: “I think it’s just gonna be trying to bring people together. I mean I will wait and see who knows, I think a lot of us can be related to this presidential election and who ends up being president. I’m convinced it’s gonna be president Trump but y’know if something happens and he wins initially then 2-3 weeks later  when a bunch of mail in ballots come in, Biden ends up being president I don’t know how people are gonna react to that. I don’t know what that’s gonna do to the relationships in congress. I think the biggest challenge is gonna be getting past all of the hurt feelings in the politics that have been associated with this race, specifically for president and being able to work together to get the basic things that need to be done for our country.”

Q: What do you plan to address during your time in congress?

A: “Well I plan to address the stuff we were talking about, the response to coronavirus, the lawlessness, all these things we’ve been discussing like the economy. But of course we have other issues here too that I’ve talked about on the campaign trail. I’m gonna be really active in maintaining our second amendment, working on pro life issues, working on immigration issues. I think i’m gonna be a big part of healthcare reform in the country y’know being a physician. So those are just some of the big ones. I’ll be working on a lot of agriculture issues as well. Working on issues related to farming and ranching that’s a big deal here in our district obviously. I tend to stay fully engaged on that front as well.”