ABC News’ Jon Karl hit White House press secretary Jay Carney hard for the White House’s continued praise of Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki, despite under his watch numerous VA facilities have been accused of cooking the books and denying numerous veterans necessary medical treatment.
The squabble took place during Friday’s White House Press Briefing.
Karl asked Carney, "Do you think it sounds strange though, given the evidence that we’re seeing coming out of suggestions that veterans have actually died waiting to get health services….?"
Carney attempted to respond, but was only able to muster a reply about Karl’s word choice. Undaunted by Carney’s weak rebuttal, Karl fired back at the press secretary again. "But here you are praising the VA for all the things that have done—you know, have been done under Shinseki’s leadership."
"All we know is that [the claims against Shineski] is a suggestion," Carney said, insinuating that despite mounting evidence that veterans died under Shinseki’s leadership, claims by employees are merely "suggestions."
This squabble comes on the heels of Karl’s recent hit against Carney regarding the newly released Benghazi emails and the White House’s downplaying of the attacks and evidence.