Acting Navy chief resigns after insulting ousted captain of coronavirus-hit aircraft carrier

“Secretary Modly served the nation for many years, both in and out of uniform. I have the deepest respect for anyone who serves our country, and who places the greater good above all else,” Esper said in a statement. “We must now put the needs of the Navy, including the crew of the Teddy Roosevelt, first, and we must all move forward together.”

Several lawmakers, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, called for Modly to be removed for a speech he gave to the vessel’s crew members on Monday, which was leaked to the media, during which he said Crozier was either “too naive or too stupid to be a commanding officer of a ship like this.”

Crozier was relieved of duty after a letter expressing his worries about a coronavirus outbreak on the ship was published in the media. Officials asserted that Crozier had purposely allowed the letter to be leaked to the media.

Undersecretary of the Army James McPherson has been picked to succeed Modly. McPherson is a retired admiral with 26 years of naval service. Esper said in his Tuesday letter that McPherson is “a smart, capable, and professional leader who will restore confidence and stability in the Navy during these challenging times.”

The leaked audio of Modly addressing crew members on the USS Theodore Roosevelt soon went viral on the internet. The secretary could be heard blasting Crozier to his former crew.

“I’m gonna tell you something, all of you: There is never a situation where you should consider the media a part of your chain of command,” Modly said. “Because the media has an agenda, and the agenda that they have depends on which side of the political aisle they sit, and I’m sorry that’s the way the country is now, but it’s the truth. And so they use it to divide us and use it to embarrass the Navy. They use it to embarrass you.”

“If he didn’t think, in my opinion, that this information wasn’t going to get out into the public, in this day and information age that we live in, then he was either … too naive or too stupid to be a commanding officer of a ship like this. The alternative is that he did this on purpose,” he added.

Modly offered an apology to Crozier on Monday.

“I want to apologize to the Navy for my recent comments to the crew of the TR. Let me be clear, I do not think Captain Brett Crozier is naive nor stupid. I think, and always believed him to be the opposite,” he said.

Defense officials said that Crozier’s removal was because the letter was purposely distributed to the media and was written improperly.

“The letter was sent over not-secure, unclassified email even though the ship possesses some of the most sophisticated equipment in the fleet,” Modly said at a Pentagon press conference on Thursday.

In addition to the lawmakers who had pushed back on the Navy’s decision, sailors aboard Crozier’s former ship cheered as he was escorted off the aircraft carrier after it docked in Guam for testing on Thursday night. Videos posted to social media showed throngs of people seeing Crozier off.

President Trump said on Monday he was going to “get involved” in the matter and characterized the dispute as “two good people arguing.”

Sending the letter was a bad decision that caused the families of those aboard the ship to worry, Trump said, adding that “it shows weakness.”

“Look, the letter shouldn’t have been sent. Certainly, they shouldn’t have been leaked,” Trump said. “This is a military operation. I must tell you, I’ve heard very good things about the gentlemen, both gentlemen, by the way. I will say this about both gentlemen. And I may look into it only from the standpoint that something should be resolved. I’m hearing good things about both people.”

The Office of the Secretary of Defense did not comment on the matter when contacted by the Washington Examiner. As of Tuesday, 230 crew members on the ship have tested positive for the coronavirus.