Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly issued an apology amid a torrent of criticism over remarks he made about the USS Theodore Roosevelt’s former commander Capt. Brett Crozier.
Modly apologized to Crozier for “any pain my remarks may have caused” in a Monday statement. A number of lawmakers called for Modly to be fired after a speech he gave to the vessel’s crew members, 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 days earlier after a letter expressing his concerns about a coronavirus outbreak onboard the ship was published in the media. Defense officials claimed Crozier purposely allowed the letter to be leaked to the press. President Trump waded into the controversy and said during a Monday news conference that he was “going to get involved” in the dispute.
As part of Modly’s apology, he said that he actually thinks Crozier is neither stupid nor naive.
“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.
“We pick our carrier commanding officers with great care,” he continued. “Captain Crozier is smart and passionate. I believe, precisely because he is not naive and stupid, that he sent his alarming email with the intention of getting it into the public domain in an effort to draw public attention to the situation on his ship. I apologize for any confusion this choice of words may have caused.”
“[Crozier and his family], and the entire Navy, have my full commitment that I will continue to help get the TR back to full health and back to sea where we can move forward beyond this unfortunate situation,” Modly added.
Despite Trump emphasizing that Crozier’s decision to write the letter was “a mistake,” he did praise the captain’s prior service and characterized the controversy as “two good people” who are arguing.
“I am going to look into it, and I’m going to see maybe we can do something because I’m not looking to destroy a person’s life, who’s had an otherwise stellar career, as I understand it,” the president said. “He made a mistake. And maybe we are going to make that mistake, not destroy his life.”
The USS Theodore Roosevelt has had at least 130 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including Crozier, who was diagnosed with the illness after being relieved of the ship’s command.
