President Trump on Saturday came out in support of the Navy's decision to fire Captain Brett Crozier after he raised the alarm about the spread of the coronavirus on his ship, the USS Theodore Roosevelt. “I thought it was inappropriate for the captain of the ship... I agree with their decision [to fire him] 100 percent,” Trump said at a briefing by the White House coronavirus task force.The president blasted Crozier’s decision to write a letter to Navy leaders pleading for help as men on his ship fell sick with the coronavirus. “I thought it was terrible what he did. To write a letter? This isn't a class on literature,” Trump said.
Trump's remarks come the same day as the announcement that 137 members of the ship’s crew have tested positive for the virus, according to a Navy press release published Saturday. Crozier has met with a hero’s welcome in public appearances, and Roosevelt’s great-grandson penned an op-ed in the New York Times in support of the former officer: “Captain Crozier Is a Hero.”
