Acting Navy secretary: Fired commander either 'too stupid, too naive' to be in charge

Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly on Monday reportedly skewered the ousted commander of the USS Theodore Roosevelt, telling the crew that the ex-commander was “too stupid” to be in command.

The fired commander, Capt. Brett Crozier, was removed from his post after reportedly writing a lengthy memo to top Navy officials about a coronavirus outbreak on his aircraft carrier and intentionally leaking it to the media. The memo also purportedly urged officials to take action to save the vessel's sailors.

Modly told the crew that Crozier was either "too naive or too stupid" to be in command, according to remarks obtained by CNN.

"It was a betrayal. And I can tell you one other thing: because he did that he put it in the public's forum and it is now a big controversy in Washington, D.C." also said Modly, according to a transcript of his remarks, copies of which the cable news network reportedly received from multiple Navy officials.