AP Deletes Cringe Tweet To Not Call The French ‘The French’ After Being Mocked By, Among Others, The French

The Associated Press After being mocked mercilessly for tweeting to instruct journalists not to call French people, I was forced to retrace my steps “the French.”

The AP Stylebook posted a tweet Thursday morning instructing journalists working with the organization to not use the hashtag. “dehumanizing” Collective terms for people such as “the French.” The US Embassy in France mocked the tweet. The AP retracted Friday’s tweet, but it didn’t make the situation any worse.

“We recommend avoiding general and often dehumanizing ‘the’ labels such as the poor, the mentally ill, the French, the disabled, the college-educated. Instead, use wording such as people with mental illnesses,” The tweet was written by the AP Stylebook. “And use these descriptions only when clearly relevant.”

Twitter users mocked the tweet mercilessly and almost immediately.

“I agree, these days we probably should label ‘the college-educated’ people with mental illnesses instead,” Daily Wire Editor Emeritus Ben Shapiro replied to the AP’s tweet. “Also, we should stop calling people ‘the French’ and instead call them ‘people suffering from cheese-eating surrender monkeyness,’” He concluded.

“I agree; ‘People suffering from pretension’ is much more humane than simply ‘the French,’” Spencer KlavanClaremont Review of Books Associate Editor, wrote.

“I believe the correct AP label is ‘the/those f***ing French,’” Comic. Jon Stewart.

“My favorite movie is The Connection With Frenchness,” Comedian Jeremy McClellan tweeted.

“The AP has declared the word ‘the’ offensive,” Babylon Bee Editor-in-Chief Kyle Mann wrote. “I thought this was a @TheBabylonBee story for a second – and I run The Babylon Bee.”

Twitter CEO Elon Musk Even the dogpile was a part of it. “So then why do call yourself ‘The’ Associated Press 😂,” Musk tweets

The mockery came to a head when none other than the French themselves joined in mocking the AP’s tweet. “I guess this is us now…” The French Embassy in the United States tweeted a screenshot of the handle change, “Embassy of Frenchness in the US.”

I guess this is us now… https://t.co/YFybgfI2AB pic.twitter.com/LrKvgjiw1X

— French Embassy U.S. (@franceintheus) January 26, 2023

A spokesman for the embassy said they were perplexed by the outlet singling them out. “We just wondered what the alternative to the French would be,” French embassy spokesman Pascal Confavreux told The New York Times. “I mean, really.”

The Associated Press was forced to delete the tweet and rework its guidance on Friday. “We deleted an earlier tweet because of an inappropriate reference to French people,” AP Stylebook wrote. “We did not intend to offend.” The outlet did, however, reaffirm its position that journalists in its collective should not use “the” labels for groups of people, because doing so “can sound dehumanizing and imply a monolith rather than diverse individuals.” Instead of using terms like “the mentally ill” or “the wealthy,” the AP Stylebook recommends the use of phrases like “people with mental illnesses” or “wealthy people.”

But that walk-back was met with even more mockery online.

“The must be the first time in history that someone has surrendered to the French,” journalist David Gardner wrote.

“THE woke!” Indiana Republican Congressman Jim Banks added.

“‘An inappropriate reference to French people’ is somehow even funnier than anything in the first tweet,” video game journalist Giovanni Colantonio chimed in.

“THE Ohio State University has entered into the chat,” one user added.

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