Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly Resigns After Calling Ousted Captain ‘Stupid’

Acting Secretary of the Navy Thomas Modly resigned Tuesday after facing backlash for calling the ousted captain of a coronavirus-stricken aircraft carrier “stupid.”

Defense Secretary Mark Esper said he accepted Modly’s resignation Tuesday morning, stating that the Modly has stepped down “on his own accord.”

“Secretary Modly served the nation for many years, both in and out of uniform,” Esper wrote in a statement. “I have the deepest respect for anyone who serves our country, and who places the greater good above all else. Secretary Modly did that today,...