Tammy Williams, a resident of Gulfport, Mississippi, spent eight years in the United States Air Force. She and her mother recently visited the Veterans Benefits Office in Jackson to take care of some business involving her father, who had passed away in June, and being the only people in the lobby, they requested that the television be changed from CNN to the Fox News Channel. But the answer was no.
“When I called and spoke with the facility manager, he said that that was a direct order from the White House — that they’re not allowed to turn the channels,” Williams reports.
She goes on to tell OneNewsNow that she decided to make the request because of what a Navy Reserve officer friend told her.
“He was telling me that on ships whenever they deploy, they’re only allowed to listen to CNN … and even if they request for a channel change, they tell them that they can’t change the channel because it’s a directive straight from the White House,” the veteran relays. “And he told me that is the way it is for all government agencies.”
OneNewsNow has received an e-mail response from a public affairs officer at the Jackson facility that reads, “Neither the Jackson Regional Office nor the Department of Veterans Affairs has a policy or directive regarding which television stations are broadcast in our facilities. Fox News is one of the many stations we have available at our facilities. We have clarified the situation with the facility and regret any confusion that may have been caused.”
But Williams stands by her account of the ordeal.