The U.S. military on Monday night deleted and apologized for a New Year’s Eve tweet that joked about bombing America’s enemies.
In the tweet, U.S. Strategic Command marked the end of 2018 with a show of force.
“#TimesSquare tradition rings in the #NewYear by dropping the big ball…if ever needed, we are #ready to drop something much, much bigger,” the tweet read.
Accompanying the message was a video of American stealth fighter jets dropping 30,000-pound bombs on targets at a test range.
The tweet was quickly deleted, and by later Monday evening, the military formally apologized.
“Our previous NYE tweet was in poor taste & does not reflect our values. We apologize,” U.S. Strategic Command tweeted. “We are dedicated to the security of America & allies.”
The bombs shown in the footage were not nuclear, a Pentagon spokesperson told NBC News.
“This post, which has since been deleted, was part of our year in review series meant to feature our command priorities: strategic deterrence, decisive response and combat-ready force,” the spokesperson said. “It was a repost from earlier in the year, dropping a pair of conventional Massive Ordnance Penetrators (MOP) at a test range in the United States.”
Among other responsibilities, U.S. Strategic Command oversees the nation’s nuclear arsenal.
• Ben Wolfgang can be reached at bwolfgang@washingtontimes.com.
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