Someone should have just taken Jonathan Allen’s phone away Wednesday.
The Washington Commanders lineman told his Twitter followers to ask him anything, which set off an insane chain of events in which he said he would invite Adolf Hitler to dinner. Then, he defended his decision when the same user asked why he would invite the Nazi Party leader to a meal.
Allen later deleted the tweets and tried to apologize, but it was too late. The messages had already made the rounds on the platform, and Washington Post reporter Sam Fortier chronicled the whole thing.
After listing his grandfather, Michael Jackson and Hitler, Allen explained:
“He’s a military genius and I love military tactics,” Allen wrote, via Fortier. “But honestly I would want to pick his brain as to why he did what he did. I’m also assuming that the people I’ve chosen have to answer all my questions honestly.”
As he continued to come under fire for the tweet, Allen did call the dictator “easily one (of) if not the most evil persons to have ever lived,” but the damage was done.
The 27-year-old, who was a Pro Bowl selection this season, walked things back with an apology.
“Early I tweeted something that probably hurt people and I apologize about what I said. I didn’t express properly what I was trying to say and I realize it was dumb!”
Most of the tweets related to the incident have been deleted.
