The Body Count -- Navy Secretary Thomas Modly

Modly

A Reoccurring Feature on Who's Jumping Off Luxury Liner Trump

Acting Navy secretary Thomas Modly resigned yesterday after drawing condemnation for insulting Captain Brett Crozier, the commanding officer of the USS Theodore Roosevelt, who was fired for writing a letter of concern about the service’s handling of a coronavirus outbreak aboard his vessel.

Modly's resignation came after he traveled from Washington to Guam on Monday to give a speech to the 5,000-member crew of the aircraft carrier. In profanity-laced remarks over a loudspeaker, Modly assailed Crozier’s character, accusing him of either leaking a letter about his concerns to the news media or of being “too naive or too stupid to be the commanding officer of a ship like this.”

Modly’s comments, leaked to reporters within hours in written and audio form, angered many of the sailors on the ship, where 230 people have tested positive for covid-19 as of Tuesday, and their relatives, and triggered calls for his resignation from several Democratic lawmakers.