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Navy Captain Fired for Raising Coronavirus Concerns Tests Positive Himself

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Donald Trump says he knew nothing about the firing of Captain Brett Crozier, the former Navy commander of the USS Theodore Roosevelt. Defense secretary Esper said that Crozier leaked letter he wrote pleading for help from the Navy went viral.

Captain Crozier has tested positive for COVID-19, according to 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.

Joe Biden spoke about Crozier on ABC’s This Week, and rebutting Trump and Esper, Biden said Crozier “should have a commendation rather than be fired, it’s “close to criminal the way they’re dealing with this guy.”

Crozier was fired because he asked Navy officials for support amid the novel coronavirus pandemic. In a heartfelt four-page memo picked-up by the San Francisco Chronicle Crozier stated that this wasn’t a time of war and that his sailors in tight quarters and unable to appropriately practicing social distancing and isolation, did not need to die.

“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.”

 

On CNN’s State of the Union, Defense Secretary Mark Esper downplayed the virus and backed Modly:

“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. It would seem difficult to argue that it was more important to the Trump administration that keeping numbers in-house and on message was a higher priority than keeping our troops safe.

And for that, he not only got fired but also got the coronavirus. We wish the Captain a quick recovery.

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Peace, y’all

Jason

[email protected] and on Twitter @MiciakZoom

Jason Miciak
meet the author

Jason Miciak is a political writer, features writer, author, and attorney. He is originally from Canada but grew up in the Pacific Northwest. He now enjoys life as a single dad raising a ridiculously-loved young girl on the beaches of the Gulf Coast. He is very much the dreamy mystic, a day without learning is a day not lived. He is passionate about his flower pots and studies philosophical science, religion, and non-mathematical principles of theoretical physics. Dogs, pizza, and love are proof that God exists. "Above all else, love one another."

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