Trump Fires Captain Of USS Theodore Roosevelt After He Pleads For Coronavirus Help

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The captain of the USS Theodore Roosevelt after a letter he wrote pleading for help with a coronavirus outbreak on his ship made it into the press.

The San Francisco Chronicle obtained a letter written by Capt. Brett Crozier:

“This will require a political solution but it is the right thing to do,” Crozier wrote. “We are not at war. Sailors do not need to die. If we do not act now, we are failing to properly take care of our most trusted asset — our Sailors.”

…..

“Due to a warship’s inherent limitations of space, we are not doing this,” Crozier wrote. “The spread of the disease is ongoing and accelerating.”

He asked for “compliant quarantine rooms” on shore in Guam for his entire crew “as soon as possible.”

“Removing the majority of personnel from a deployed U.S. nuclear aircraft carrier and isolating them for two weeks may seem like an extraordinary measure. … This is a necessary risk,” Crozier wrote. “Keeping over 4,000 young men and women on board the TR is an unnecessary risk and breaks faith with those Sailors entrusted to our care.”

The Navy responded by relieving Crozier of his duties:

Reuters reported that it was because the letter got leaked (and Trump hates bad press):

Capt. Crozier is a hero who was willing to lose his career to save young sailors from needlessly dying from their Commander In Chief’s incompetence.

The pattern has repeated itself throughout the Trump presidency. Anyone who speaks out, or says anything less than Trump is doing a great job gets punished.

Here is hoping that the next president after Trump corrects this grave injustice.

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Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

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