Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly addressed the 4,000-plus sailor crew of aircraft carrier U.S.S. Theodore Roosevelt, calling its former captain Brett Crozier “too naïve or too stupid to be a commanding officer,”
Modly also railed on China in the address: “The only reason we are dealing with this right now is because a big authoritarian regime called China was not forthcoming about what was happening with this virus and they put the world at risk to protect themselves and to protect their reputations.”
“You can disobey the chain of command and take the consequences, but there is no situation where you go to the media,” Modly told the crew over the ship’s internal loudspeaker system. The New York Times obtained a transcript of Modly’s address and apparently verified its authenticity; the Navy’s head spokesperson Rear Adm. Charlie Brown confirmed that Modly addressed the U.S.S. Theodore Roosevelt’s crew.
Modly affirmed his leaked speech: “I stand by every word I said, even, regrettably any profanity that may have been used for emphasis," he told“Secretary Modly’s comments were completely inappropriate and beneath the office of the Secretary of the Navy,” said Senator Tim Kaine in a statement released by his office, according to the
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