The French ambassador to the U.S. marked Pearl Harbor day by reminding America that it had failed France in the 1930s by insufficiently confronting Nazi Germany.

Gerard Araud tweeted Thursday afternoon that “In this Pearl Harbor day, we should remember that the US refused to side with France and the UK to confront the fascist powers in the 30s.”

Mr. Araud deleted the tweet within a few minutes, though not before it had been screen-captured.

“Basically the French ambassador put in a cheat code that gives you the worst possible tweet and went ‘oh hell yes let’s do this,’” lamented Seth Mandel, op-ed editor of the New York Post. “Araud did it. He finally created a tweet less diplomatic and more historically asinine than anything Donald Trump has tweeted as president. Mother of god, Gerard. Mother of god.”

Mr. Araud then proceeded to explain that what he really meant was that France, Britain *and* the US had all failed France in the 1930s by insufficiently confronting Nazi Germany.

“Remembering the mistakes committed by the 3 democracies, France, UK and US, was not a ‘bad take.’ We are immensely grateful for what the US did for France in 1944 but it is a fact that US, France and UK committed mistakes in the 30s,” he protested over two subsequent tweets.

Remembering the mistakes committed by the 3 democracies, France, UK and US, was not a “bad take”. https://t.co/Im2siRe6fy — Gérard Araud (@GerardAraud) December 7, 2017

We are immensely grateful for what the US did for France in 1944 but it is a fact that US, France and UK commited mistakes in the 30s. — Gérard Araud (@GerardAraud) December 7, 2017

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