Surprised by Tony P’s NATO video? He was too.

A Reddit user was not impressed. “Like what was the point of this?” they wrote. “Is this the only spokesperson DC could find? With all the unemployed international policy folks, this is who we use to do this work?”

A poster on X was puzzled as well, saying, “career diplomats being ousted for a media job by a 25 year old bachelor in dc. what in the world.”

To be fair, even Tony P, a.k.a. Anthony Polcari, was surprised.

“They want to work with me? Like, an influencer guy? I couldn’t believe it,” Polcari said in a phone interview Wednesday. “Really, just — I’m blown away by it. And, you know, any way I can help was just really cool for me.”

Polcari, who said he wasn’t paid for the video, is one of several dozen social media influencers invited by NATO, the Defense Department and the State Department to be a part of the high-level summit. As the alliance faces growing questions about its future, it wants to better explain its mission and bolster its image with young people who may have only a vague understanding of why it was formed.

Polcari said NATO reached out to his agent a few weeks ago. After he got over the shock of the request, he read the short script and jumped on board. The video was filmed on a blazing hot June day in front of various Washington landmarks as Polcari, boiling in a dark blue suit, delivered his lines without letting anyone see him sweat.

He thinks he may have been asked because he has become a more visible face in the District as his Instagram following — where he chronicles his bachelor life in aggressively inoffensive videos — has swelled from about 2,000 people a year or so ago to more than 200,000.

“They wanted someone who could showcase D.C., who was an influencer, you know, in the D.C. space,” Polcari said. As if on cue, a woman in the background could be heard yelling out, “Tony P!”

But not all of his Instagram followers were pleased with his new tie to NATO.

“I hate this so much,” one wrote. Another posted a vomit emoji.

On X there were more jabs:

“God, this is embarrassing. You got to be kidding me …”

“Congratulations! This is the worst thing I’ve ever seen!”

“D.C. really needs better local celebrities.”

Polcari shrugs off the naysayers.

“There’s some people saying that I’m one of those hated influencers in D.C. That’s just not true,” Polcari said. “It’s funny, the fact that people will take time out of their day to crap on me for doing a NATO video made me kind of laugh. Because I use the old line from the show ‘Mad Men’: ‘I’m not thinking about you, but you’re thinking about me.’”

Negativity has no place in Tony P’s world.

“I want to create a space for fun and positivity where people can come together,” he texted after the interview.