Trump was directly confronted by NBC’s Geoff Bennett with the perception that his firing the captain of the USS Theodore Roosevelt because he pleaded for coronavirus help.
Bennett asked, “The Navy is set the fire the captain of the USS Teddy Roosevelt after he raised red flags about the COVID outbreak on his ship. It appears he’s being punished for trying to save the lives of the sailors in his command. What’s your assessment?”
Trump answered, “No, I don’t agree with that at all. We’re going to wait for a little while because I understand there’s a news conference by the Secretary of Defense about that, but I don’t agree with that at all.”
Geoff Bennett’s mic was cut off and Trump moved on to another question without denying that the captain was fired for asking for his sailors to be taken off of a coronavirus infected ship.
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Video:
Trump said he doesn't agree with the perception that he is firing the captain of the USS Theodore Roosevelt because he raised concerns about coronavirus on his ship. Notice that Trump didn't deny that is why he is being fired. pic.twitter.com/YotFyppT2Q
— Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) April 2, 2020
The captain was let go because the letter that he wrote pleading with the Trump administration not to all sailors to die on an infected ship somehow made its way into the media.
If the letter wasn’t the reason for his dismissal, Trump could have said no, that is not the reason. The President, instead, tried to pivot into an opinion without denying the question.
Trump is firing a captain because he tried to save the lives of his sailors during a pandemic, and he didn’t really deny it.
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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.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
