The Associated Press was forced to backtrack after being mercilessly mocked for a tweet instructing journalists not to call French people “the French.”

In a tweet posted Thursday morning, the AP Stylebook instructed journalists who work with the organization not to use “dehumanizing” collective terms for people, such as “the French.” The tweet was roundly mocked by, among many others, the French Embassy in the United States. The AP walked back its tweet Friday, but that did not make it any better.

“We recommend avoiding general and often dehumanizing ‘the’ labels such as the poor, the mentally ill, the French, the disabled, the college-educated. Instead, use wording such as people with mental illnesses,” the AP Stylebook wrote in the now-deleted tweet. “And use these descriptions only when clearly relevant.”

The tweet was almost immediately and mercilessly mocked by Twitter users on all sides.

“I agree, these days we probably should label ‘the college-educated’ people with mental illnesses instead,” Daily Wire Editor Emeritus Ben Shapiro replied to the AP’s tweet. “Also, we should stop calling people ‘the French’ and instead call them ‘people suffering from cheese-eating surrender monkeyness,’” he added.

“I agree; ‘People suffering from pretension’ is much more humane than simply ‘the French,’” Spencer Klavan, associate editor of the Claremont Review of Books, wrote.

“I believe the correct AP label is ‘the/those f***ing French,’” said comedian Jon Stewart.

“My favorite movie is The Connection With Frenchness,” comedian Jeremy McClellan tweeted.

“The AP has declared the word ‘the’ offensive,” Babylon Bee editor-in-chief Kyle Mann wrote. “I thought this was a @TheBabylonBee story for a second – and I run The Babylon Bee.”

Twitter CEO Elon Musk even got in on the dogpile. “So then why do call yourself ‘The’ Associated Press 😂,” Musk tweeted.

The mockery came to a head when none other than the French themselves joined in mocking the AP’s tweet. “I guess this is us now…” the French Embassy in the United States tweeted, including a screenshot changing its handle to “Embassy of Frenchness in the US.”

I guess this is us now… https://t.co/YFybgfI2AB pic.twitter.com/LrKvgjiw1X

— French Embassy U.S. (@franceintheus) January 26, 2023

A spokesman for the embassy said they were perplexed by the outlet singling them out. “We just wondered what the alternative to the French would be,” French embassy spokesman Pascal Confavreux told The New York Times. “I mean, really.”

The Associated Press was forced to delete the tweet and rework its guidance on Friday. “We deleted an earlier tweet because of an inappropriate reference to French people,” AP Stylebook wrote. “We did not intend to offend.” The outlet did, however, reaffirm its position that journalists in its collective should not use “the” labels for groups of people, because doing so “can sound dehumanizing and imply a monolith rather than diverse individuals.” Instead of using terms like “the mentally ill” or “the wealthy,” the AP Stylebook recommends the use of phrases like “people with mental illnesses” or “wealthy people.”

But that walk-back was met with even more mockery online.

“The must be the first time in history that someone has surrendered to the French,” journalist David Gardner wrote.

“THE woke!” Indiana Republican Congressman Jim Banks added.

“‘An inappropriate reference to French people’ is somehow even funnier than anything in the first tweet,” video game journalist Giovanni Colantonio chimed in.

“THE Ohio State University has entered into the chat,” one user added.

Body camera footage was released Friday evening allegedly showing the interaction between former Memphis Police Department officers and Tyre Nichols that allegedly led to Nichols’ death.

Following the release of the footage, multiple news outlets reported that a group of protesters had marched onto the I-55 bridge, blocking all lanes as of approximately 8 p.m. eastern time. The Memphis Police Department issued a warning on Twitter to “avoid the area if possible.”

Traffic Alert

Please avoid the area if possible. pic.twitter.com/VsOOJ7gfTt

— Memphis Police Dept (@MEM_PoliceDept) January 28, 2023

Five former Memphis Police Department officers were arrested and charged in connection to the incident for their alleged involvement in the death of the 29-year-old male, who died earlier this month in a hospital days after the confrontation.

Nichols died on January 10, three days after Memphis police pulled him over in a traffic stop, local media reported. Nichols, and the five former police officers involved, are black.

Authorities stopped Nichols on January 7 for “reckless driving” near Raines Road and Ross Road in Memphis.

Police told local media that during the stop, a “confrontation occurred,” at which point Nichols ran away from police on foot as they attempted to apprehend him.

“While attempting to take the suspect into custody, another confrontation occurred; however, the suspect was ultimately apprehended,” MPD said. “Afterward the suspect complained of having shortness of breath, at which point an ambulance was called to the scene.”

Officials released the following four videos from the incident [WARNING: Graphic content]:

Officers Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmit Martin III, Desmond Mills, Jr., and Justin Smith have all been charged with two counts of official misconduct, local media reported, with one count of official oppression, second-degree murder, aggravated assault-act in concert, and two counts of aggravated kidnapping.

Nichols’ mother, RowVaughn Wells, told CNN on Friday that those who protest her son’s death should not riot because that is not what her son would have wanted.

“I don’t want us burning up our cities, tearing up the streets, because that’s not what my son stood for,” Wells said. “And if you guys are here for me and Tyre, then you will protest peacefully.”

“When my husband and I got to the hospital and I saw my son, he was already gone,” Wells said. “They had beat him to a pulp.”

“He had bruises all over him. His head was swollen like a watermelon. His neck was busting because of the swelling. They broke his neck. My son’s nose look like a S,” she said. “They actually just beat the crap out of him. And so when I saw that, I knew my son was gone, the end. Even if he did live, he would have been a vegetable.”

Brandon Drey contributed to this report.