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Acting Navy secretary apologizes for calling ousted aircraft carrier captain 'stupid' in address to
Source: CNN
Acting Navy secretary apologizes for calling ousted aircraft carrier captain 'stupid' in address to ship's crew
By Barbara Starr, Evan Perez and Ryan Browne, CNN
Updated 0121 GMT (0921 HKT) April 7, 2020
(CNN) — Acting Secretary of the Navy Thomas Modly apologized Monday night for calling the now-ousted commander of the USS Theodore Roosevelt "stupid" in an address to the ship's crew Monday morning.
Modly told the crew that their former commander, Capt. Brett Crozier, was either "too naive or too stupid" to be in command or that he intentionally leaked to the media a memo in which he warned about coronavirus spreading aboard the aircraft carrier and urged action to save his sailors, according to remarks obtained by CNN.
The acting secretary also accused Crozier of committing a "betrayal" and creating a "big controversy" in Washington by disseminating the warning so widely among Navy officials.
-snip-
Later Monday evening, after top members of the House Armed Services Committee began calling for his resignation, Modly apologized to the Navy for his comment.
"Let me be clear, I do not think Captain Brett Crozier is naïve nor stupid. I think, and always believed him to be the opposite," Modly said in his statement. "We pick our carrier commanding officers with great care. 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."
-snip-
By Barbara Starr, Evan Perez and Ryan Browne, CNN
Updated 0121 GMT (0921 HKT) April 7, 2020
(CNN) — Acting Secretary of the Navy Thomas Modly apologized Monday night for calling the now-ousted commander of the USS Theodore Roosevelt "stupid" in an address to the ship's crew Monday morning.
Modly told the crew that their former commander, Capt. Brett Crozier, was either "too naive or too stupid" to be in command or that he intentionally leaked to the media a memo in which he warned about coronavirus spreading aboard the aircraft carrier and urged action to save his sailors, according to remarks obtained by CNN.
The acting secretary also accused Crozier of committing a "betrayal" and creating a "big controversy" in Washington by disseminating the warning so widely among Navy officials.
-snip-
Later Monday evening, after top members of the House Armed Services Committee began calling for his resignation, Modly apologized to the Navy for his comment.
"Let me be clear, I do not think Captain Brett Crozier is naïve nor stupid. I think, and always believed him to be the opposite," Modly said in his statement. "We pick our carrier commanding officers with great care. 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."
-snip-
Read more: https://edition.cnn.com/2020/04/06/politics/uss-tr-crozier-modly/index.html
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