In speech to USS Roosevelt crew, Modly calls fired captain either 'stupid' or knowingly negligent

Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly justified his firing last week of the USS Theodore Roosevelt’s skipper in a speech broadcast Monday over the ship’s public address system, calling Capt. Brett Crozier “stupid” if he thought a letter calling for his crew to be evacuated because of coronavirus concerns wasn’t going to leak.

Modly’s remarks in Guam came days after the crew cheered Crozier and chanted his name after he left the ship, a scene captured in videos made by sailors that received wide attention.

“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 A, too naive or too stupid to be a commander of a ship like this,” Modly said over the “1MC,” which broadcasts throughout the aircraft carrier, according to a transcript posted anonymously online. Modly’s spokesperson did not respond to phone calls Monday to confirm its authenticity, but The Wall Street Journal and CNN each said they verified the comments through Navy officials.

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