Gérard Araud, the French ambassador to the United States, created a controversy Thursday by calling for people to remember that the United States did not join France and England in confronting Adolf Hitler in the 1930s.
“On this Pearl Harbor day, we should remember that the US refused to side with France and UK to confront the fascist powers in the 30s,” Araud tweeted.
Screen capture from Twitter
Araud deleted the tweet after a backlash, though he continued to defend his point.
@GerardAraud I get that “mistakes were made”, but have some class man. It’s the anniversary of Pearl Harbor, why are you trying (and failing) to score political points?
— Spencer Flake (@SpencerFlake1) December 8, 2017
I am not “scoring”. I am a historian. I deleted the tweet after 15s for the reason you emphasized.
— Gérard Araud (@GerardAraud) December 8, 2017
You are a diplomat representing the interests of France, not a historian in this moment. You’re tweet was very bad diplomacy.
— Spencer Flake (@SpencerFlake1) December 8, 2017
Let’s also remember, @GerardAraud, that tens of thousands of Americans died to rescue France from the consequences of its own mistakes in the 1930s. Really bad tweet. https://t.co/UbfIq7BgXw
— Bret Stephens (@BretStephensNYT) December 7, 2017
UK, France and US committed awful mistakes in the 30s. Because of its geography, France was the first to pay for them. https://t.co/EY0hjoF3KT
— Gérard Araud (@GerardAraud) December 7, 2017
@GerardAraud That was the fastest delete I’ve ever seen, but man that was a really, really bad take.
— Derek McConnell (@dcmrph) December 7, 2017
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
During World War II, France quickly surrendered to Germany and formed the Vichy government, which cooperated with the Nazi regime and helped round up French Jews for deportation to Nazi death camps. Tens of thousands of American and British soldiers died liberating France.