Former Secretary of Veterans Affairs David Shulkin on Sunday pushed back against a White House claim that he resigned from his position.
“I came to run the Department of Veterans Affairs because I’m committed to veterans,” Shulkin told CNN’s “State of the Union.”
{mosads}“And I’m committed to fighting for them. And I would not resign because I’m committed to making sure this job was seen through to the very end.”
CNN host Jake Tapper then pressed Shulkin, asking, “so you were fired?”
“I did not resign,” Shulkin responded.
Following reports that Shulkin was fired, a spokesperson for the White House last week told Politico that Shulkin had resigned from his post.
President Trump on Twitter last week announced a replacement for Shulkin, who penned an op-ed following his departure in The New York Times opposing the privatization of Veteran Affairs and describing a “brutal power struggle” at the agency.
But Shulkin during his Sunday interview said he “never had any issues” with Trump and that the behavior of some political appointees in the administration has created a “difficult environment.”
“This is the president’s call and I respect his decision,” Shulkin told Tapper of his exit from the administration.