Grammy and Oscar-winning singer John Legend called President Donald Trump a “cancer” who “needs to be removed from office,” after the firing of Navy Secretary Richard Spencer. The official was forced to resign over his handling of the case regarding Navy SEAL Eddie Gallagher.

“The President is a cancer and needs to be removed from office as soon as possible,” John Legend, one of the entertainment world’s most outspoken Trump critics, said on Twitter in response to Spencer’s letter on his departure.

The President is a cancer and needs to be removed from office as soon as possible. https://t.co/TS1KG7ruFV — John Legend (@johnlegend) November 25, 2019

Defense Secretary Mark Esper lost “trust and confidence” in Spencer after he learned the Navy secretary had contradicted his public position by privately proposing to the White House that President Donald Trump allow the Navy to conduct an internal review of Gallagher and he would then restore his rank and allow him to retire with his Trident pin.

The decision comes one day after Spencer denied reports that he had threatened to resign after President Donald Trump intervened in Gallagher’s case.

In July, Gallagher was acquitted of war crimes charges that included murdering a teenage Islamic State captive, shooting civilians and threatening those who gave their superiors information on him during his time in Iraq. He was convicted of posing for a photo with the IS fighter’s dead body and sentenced to four months confinement and loss of rank.

The Navy’s top officer upheld the punishment last month, but President Trump restored Gallagher’s rank to E-7 and later tweeted that the Navy would not remove his Trident pin.

The UPI contributed to this report.