Food Network host Alton Brown has apologized today for a tweet he posted last night referencing the Holocaust. Brown started tweeting about food the day before the election, but his tweets quickly devolved into political tirades over the course of the past week, culminating last night in a widely criticized tweet-spree comparing the current political climate to the Holocaust. While it wouldn’t take a celebrity chef’s palate to detect the notes of fascism baked into this country, the since-deleted joke, asking if “camp uniforms will be striped, like the ones at Auschwitz,†was offensive and unfunny. Brown attempted to make amends for it in a new post Wednesday morning. “I apologize for the flippant reference I made to the Holocaust in my tweet last night,†he wrote. “It was not a reference I made for humorous effect but rather to reflect how deeply frightened I am for our country. It was a very poor use of judgement and in poor taste.â€
Brown’s tweets have become an increasing source of concern since his preelection food rant. In since-deleted tweets shared November 10, he came out as conservative to all his new friends on Twitter who weren’t aware he is a “politically conservative Southerner who sometimes carries a Bible and a firearm,†per a 2016 New York Times profile. He clarified that he has “voted republican in previous years. But, I voted for and strongly support #BidenHarris2020.†Between the tweets and the voting history, it’s too late. The internet has already returned to the safe refuge of Guy Fieri’s Flavortown.