Captain Brett Crozier, the former Navy commander of the USS Theodore Roosevelt who was fired after a leaked letter he wrote pleading for help from the Navy went viral, has tested positive for COVID-19, as reported by The New York Times. Two classmates of Crozier’s from the Naval Academy confirmed his diagnosis to the Times. According to those classmates, Crozier started to display symptoms before he was taken off of the aircraft carrier on Thursday. More than 150 sailors on the ship have tested positive for the virus, as reported by CNN.
Former Vice President and current 2020 hopeful Joe Biden spoke about Crozier on ABC’s This Week on Sunday morning, arguing that he “should have a commendation rather than be fired.” Biden added that it’s “close to criminal the way they’re dealing with this guy.”
Here is that clip.
As Daily Kos previously covered, Crozier had asked Navy officials for support amid the novel coronavirus pandemic. In a moving four-page memo, as was first picked up by the San Francisco Chronicle and then covered widely, Crozier stressed that this is not a time of war; his sailors, who were kept in tight quarters and unable to appropriately practicing social distancing and isolation, did not need to die. As he reportedly wrote, “Keeping over 4,000 young men and women on board the TR is an unnecessary risk and breaks faith those Sailors entrusted to our care.”
“I have no doubt in my mind that Capt. Crozier did what he thought was in the best interest of the safety and well being of his crew. Unfortunately, it did the opposite,” Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly stated, suggesting Crozier’s letter caused unnecessary panic.
On CNN’s State of the Union, Defense Secretary Mark Esper downplayed the virus and backed Modly, saying, “I think Secretary Moldy laid out very reasonably… And I think when all those facts come to bear, we'll have a chance to understand why Secretary Moldy did what he did.” Last month, Esper advised commanders to stay on message when it came to the pandemic response, suggesting that keeping the Trump administration up to date on information was a higher priority than keeping our troops safe.
"It was based on his view that he had lost faith and confidence in the captain based on his actions. It was supported by Navy leadership. And I think it's just another example of how we hold leaders accountable for their actions,” Esper stated earlier today.
Here is that clip.
On Saturday, Trump reportedly laid into Crozier’s letter, purporting, “this isn’t a class on literature.”
"I thought it was terrible what he did. To write a letter? I mean, this isn't a class on literature. This is a captain of a massive ship that's nuclear-powered and he shouldn't be talking that way in a letter. He could call and ask and suggest,” Trump said during a White House presser.
“He wrote a letter to try to save the lives of his sailors. Do you think that's terrible that he did that?” Jake Tapper asked Esper of Trump’s statement. Esper dodged the question saying the investigation is ongoing, but that it wasn’t abnormal to fire a commander without a full review. What, if anything, will come from the investigation is not yet clear.