On Tuesday night, Allen, a defensive tackle for the newly named Commanders, told fans on Twitter to ask him anything. Twitter user Nick Chappell asked, “You can have dinner with three people, dead or alive. Who are you inviting?”

In response, Allen wrote in a tweet that has since been deleted, that he would choose his grandfather, Michael Jackson and Hitler.

While the tweets have been deleted, several Twitter users shared screenshots of Allen’s response and his explanation for choosing Hitler. In a screenshot posted to Twitter by Pete Hailey of NBC Sports in Washington D.C., Allen can be seen saying that Hitler was a “military genius.”

“And I love military tactics,” Allen said in the tweet. “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.”

Shortly after his tweet, Allen faced criticism from many for choosing Hitler, as he is widely known to have led the Holocaust, where millions of Jewish individuals in Germany were killed during World War II.

Twitter user Jared Muskovitz wrote, “Dude. Hitler? What the ACTUAL F***? Do you have any inkling as to how unbelievably hurtful it is to hear for a Jewish kid who likes football that YOU WANNA HAVE A MEAL WITH HITLER?”

Similarly, Twitter user Marc responded by writing, “This is an awful take, you should think about what you are saying.”

Twitter user Lauren Joffe wrote, “I think the biggest problem with Jonathan Allen’s tweet is that he doesn’t know why Hitler did what he did. That’s what should concern you the most.”

Another Twitter user pointed at Hitler’s downfall saying that “A military genius doesn’t try to invade Russia in the winter.”

On Wednesday afternoon, Allen deleted his tweets and issued an apology following the backlash he received.

“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!” Allen wrote.

Newsweek reached out to the Washington Commanders for comment but did not receive a response in time for publication.

A somewhat similar incident occurred in January 2020 when Morris Berger, an offensive coordinator at Grand Valley State University in Michigan, told the Grand Valley Lanthorn that Hitler was one person he’d like to have dinner with.

During an interview with the site’s sports editor Kellen Voss, Berger was asked which historical figure he’d like to have dinner with.

“This is probably not going to get a good review, but I’m going to say Adolf Hitler. It was obviously very sad and he had bad motives, but the way he was able to lead was second-to-none. How he rallied a group and a following, I want to know how he did that. Bad intentions of course, but you can’t deny he wasn’t a great leader,” Berger said in response.

Berger announced his resignation shortly after the comments were published.