The US acting navy secretary has apologised for calling the ousted captain of the USS Theodore Roosevelt “too naive or too stupid” to be in command, amid growing calls from Congress and former officers for him to resign.
“Let me be clear, I do not think Captain Brett Crozier is naive nor stupid,” Thomas Modly wrote on Monday evening. “I think and always believed him to be the opposite.”
“I apologize for any confusion this choice of words may have caused. I also want to apologize directly to Captain Crozier, his family, and the entire crew of the Theodore Roosevelt for any pain my remarks may have caused.”
Modly sparked a leadership crisis at the Pentagon when an audio recording surfaced of a speech he gave to the crew of the aircraft carrier, in which he denigrated the commander he had fired for having circulated a memo calling for more help for his crew, who had been stricken by a coronavirus outbreak onboard.
The acting navy secretary’s apology came soon after Donald Trump said on Monday evening he would intervene in the situation, and hinted he might reinstate the former Roosevelt commander Captain Brett Crozier.
“His career prior to that was very good. So I’m going to get involved and see exactly what’s going on there because I don’t want to destroy somebody for having a bad day,” Trump said, while stressing that Crozier should not have circulated the memo.