Military agency apologizes for tweet likening bombs to Times Square ball drop

After deleting the video post, the U.S. Strategic Command said the intended joke was ‘in poor taste.’

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A military agency’s attempt to grab online attention on New Year’s Eve sent its PR team into a tailspin.

The U.S. Strategic Command has apologized for a joke that, ummm, bombed—immediately stoking backlash on Twitter. The tweet drew an apparent parallel between the Times Square ball dropping to ring in 2019 and the dropping of bombs.

“The command that is responsible for the country’s nuclear and missile arsenal for some reason thought it would be appropriate to celebrate the new year with a tongue-in-cheek tweet about bombs,” Slate reported.

The Washington Post reported:

The embedded video showed footage of a B-2 stealth bomber. As the words “STEALTH,” “READY” and “LETHAL” flashed across the screen, the aircraft released bombs. They fall to the ground and crash with a fiery explosion.

It also tagged the Whiteman Air Force Base and the Air Force Global Strike Command, which is responsible for nuclear and nonnuclear strategic bomber fleets.

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