delivered over the carrier\u2019s intercom system<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cIt was a betrayal,” Modly told sailors, who just days earlier sent their commanding officer off amid rousing applause and chants of Crozier\u2019s name as he departed the ship for the last time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAnd I can tell you one other thing: because he did that he put it in the public\u2019s forum and it is now a big controversy in Washington, D.C. If he didn\u2019t think, in my opinion, that this information wasn\u2019t going to get out to the public, in this day and information age that we live in, then he was either A, too na\u00efve or too stupid to be a commanding officer of a ship like this. The alternative is that he did this on purpose.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Modly\u2019s message to the crew sparked immediate outrage on the part of Democratic lawmakers, who have begun issuing calls for the Navy\u2019s top civilian to be investigated \u2014 or fired.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI disagree strongly with the manner in which acting Secretary of the Navy Modly has handled the COVID-19 outbreak on the U.S.S. Theodore Roosevelt,\u201d House Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam Smith, D-Wash., said Monday in an official statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“His decision to relieve Captain Crozier was at best an overreaction to the extraordinary steps the Captain took to protect his crew. Acting Secretary Modly\u2019s decision to address the sailors on the Roosevelt and personally attack Captain Crozier shows a tone-deaf approach more focused on personal ego than one of the calm, steady leadership we so desperately need in this crisis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI no longer have confidence in Acting Secretary Modly\u2019s leadership of the Navy and believe he should be removed from his position.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rep. Elaine Luria, D-Virginia, echoed those sentiments Monday, saying, \u201cActing Secretary of the Navy Thomas Modly\u2019s remarks to the crew show that he is in no way fit to lead our Navy through this trying time. Secretary Esper should immediately fire him.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
President Trump\u2019s involvement as mediator, meanwhile, comes as the dispute reaches a fever pitch. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In his remarks Monday, the president appeared to take a more lenient view of Crozier than Navy brass has thus far.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201c<\/b>We don\u2019t want to have letter-writing campaigns where the fake news finds a letter and gets a leak. We don\u2019t want that,\u201d Trump said Monday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWith all of that said, his career prior to that was very good. … He started off as a helicopter pilot. They called him \u2018Chopper.\u2019 He was a great helicopter pilot, it\u2019s a tremendous skill. I know a lot about helicopters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSo I\u2019m going to get involved. … I don\u2019t want to destroy somebody for having a bad day.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n