Trea Turner Issues Apology After Offensive Tweets Emerge

Turner becomes the latest athlete to have inappropriate social media posts surface years after they were published.

Yet another athlete is involved in a scandal involving past tweets. This time it's Washington Nationals shortstop Trea Turner who has to answer for his social media history.

On Sunday, racist and homophobic tweets sent by Turner in 2011 and 2012 surfaced, just hours after Atlanta Braves left-hander Sean Newcomb suffered the same fate.

Turner's tweets contained derogatory language towards the LGBT community as well as the African American population.

Warning: the following image contains sensitive language

As the world goes crazy sifting through tweets from 2011 and 2012, context and authenticity is a key before anyone starts to overreact about tweets that were "supposedly" on Trea Turner's account. pic.twitter.com/epCBgF2ffe

— Talk Nats (@TalkNats) July 30, 2018

The Nationals shortstop his since issued a statement on the matter, saying "there are no excuses" for his language and expressing that he is "sincerely sorry."

Trea Turner issued a statement. pic.twitter.com/5ZFbn2AH5E

— Chelsea Janes (@chelsea_janes) July 30, 2018

The team quickly responded to the scandal, issuing a statement of their own in which general manager Mike Rizzo maintains Turner's outstanding character.

Here’s a statement from Nationals GM Mike Rizzo on Trea Turner’s offensive tweets. pic.twitter.com/CmZYX8WXnI

— Jorge Castillo (@jorgecastillo) July 30, 2018

Turner is the latest athlete to have tweets from years ago surface. Aside from Newcomb, Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Josh Hader also caught fire after the All-Star Game for his Twitter history.