Navy leader calls fired carrier captain 'naive' or 'stupid'

WASHINGTON (AP) — In an extraordinary broadside punctuated with profanity, the Navy’s top leader accused the fired commander of the COVID-stricken USS Theodore Roosevelt of being “too naive or too stupid” to be in charge of an aircraft carrier. He delivered the criticism to sailors who had cheered the departing skipper last week.

Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly harshly criticized Capt. Brett E. Crozier — and by implication those among the crew who had vocally supported him — in a lengthy and passionate speech aboard the ship, which is pier-side at Guam. Crew members are being taken off the ship to be tested for the coronavirus. At least 155 of the 4,865 members of the crew have tested positive, and the carrier is sidelined.

Modly relieved Crozier of command of the ship last week, saying he had lost confidence in him for having shown “extremely poor judgment” in widely distributing a letter pleading for an accelerated evacuation of the crew. The dismissal turned into a hot political issue, with Democrats saying Crozier was wrongly fired for defending his sailors, and President Donald Trump denouncing Crozier and backing Modly.

An unofficial transcript of Modly's remarks Sunday circulated widely on the internet Monday. Several officials confirmed the authenticity of the transcript's contents. Modly himself issued a brief statement saying he stood behind his remarks but had not heard a recording and therefore could not confirm every detail in the transcript.

“The spoken words were from the heart, and meant for them,” Modly said, referring to the crew. "I stand by every word I said, even, regrettably any profanity that may have been used for emphasis. Anyone who has served on a Navy ship would understand. I ask, but don’t expect, that people read them in their entirety.”

In his remarks aboard...