He met reporters in the press conference room for the first time since taking office.
secret hospitalizationAustin said he wants to make it “unequivocally” that the entire incident was not handled properly.
“We didn’t handle this right. I couldn’t handle this right. I should have told the president about the cancer diagnosis,” Austin said.
“I should have told my team and the American people. I take full responsibility,” he added. “I apologize to my teammates and the American people.”
Austin faces increasing criticism for continuing his activism new year’s day Secret hospitalization.
he didn’t tell president biden Or that a key White House staffer was hospitalized for three days despite spending time in intensive care with a urinary tract infection.
I kept it a secret from even the Deputy Secretary of Defense for three days. Kathleen Hickstook command of the Pentagon for four days, but could not share his views. Early December prostate cancer Biden’s diagnosis continues after his hospitalization.
Austin said he made a mistake by not telling Biden about his diagnosis, but added: chain of command remained intact and national security was not threatened.
Austin has to keep his diagnosis a secret because Please keep your issue private The goal is to avoid burdening the White House bosses.
“This news shocked me, but I also know it’s shocked a lot of other people, especially the black community. It was a gut punch,” Austin said. “And frankly, my first instinct was to keep it private.”
He added, “I learned from this experience.”
“Having this kind of job means losing some of the privacy that most of us expect,” he says. “The American people have a right to know if their leaders are facing health problems.”
The political scandal prompted a review by the White House, the Pentagon, and the Department of Defense Inspector General’s Office.
Congress — In some Congresses
republican party Austin has called for his resignation, accusing him of dereliction of duty that endangered national security, but has also called for a formal hearing on the matter.
Read the full report here.
