Washington Commanders star Jonathan Allen got a little too candid in a social media Q&A session gone wrong.
The defensive tackle, 27, participated in an “ask me anything” session on Twitter early Wednesday morning, when he was asked which three people, dead or alive, would he invite to dinner.
Two of Allen’s picks, his grandfather and King of Pop Michael Jackson, seemed like reasonable answers, but his last choice, Adolf Hitler, spurred public outrage.
“2 of the 3 I understand,” remarked Nick Chappell, who made the query. “But please explain Hitler.”
Allen’s response was certainly a head scratcher. “He’s a military genius and I love military tactics 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 my questions honestly,” he replied.
The Washington star’s Nazi dining companion choice obviously sparked public backlash. One Twitter commenter remarked, “I see why Daron Payne wanted to fight you now,” in reference to a sideline skirmish between the teammates that resulted in punches.
Jonathan Allen doesn’t know why Hitler did what he did pic.twitter.com/WCOhTD7R2x
— Bim (@Bim_Binzer) February 9, 2022
“He was as much of a military genius as Washington is playoff bound,” said another.
“Murdering 6 million Jews in concentration camps and gas chambers displays ZERO “military genius.” I am deeply disturbed by this, sir. There is a great Holocaust Museum in Washington DC, please let me know if you’d like to join me on a 4 hour tour. Tickets on me,” a sports broadcaster responded seriously.
Allen quickly deleted the post, but it had already been screencapped by quick internet sleuths. The entire exchange can be viewed below.
Damn he deleted. Lmao pic.twitter.com/9XGj60Icwg
— . (@sokkatribe1) February 9, 2022
He tried to walk back his comments with an apology on Wednesday afternoon. “Early I tweeted something that probably hurt people and I apologize about what I said,” he tweeted. “I didn’t express properly what I was trying to say and I realize it was dumb!”
wpDiscuz
Hold on just a second. This guy’s comment was an opinion on Hitler’s military strategies, and not related to the genocide of Jews. The fact that Allen didn’t know what he was talking about (Hitler was an amateur at military strategy as evidenced by his plan to invade Russia) has nothing to do with his opinions and comments about military issues. Nothing was said about Hitler’s genocidal personality. Good grief, this sounds like someone imitating the wokesters.