White House spokesman Sean Spicer triggered an uproar on Tuesday by saying German dictator Adolf Hitler had not used chemical weapons during World War II. He apologized after his comments drew immediate criticism for overlooking the fact that millions of Jews were killed in Nazi gas chambers. Spicer made the assertion at a daily news briefing, during a discussion about the April 4 chemical weapons attack in Syria that killed more than 80 people. Washington has blamed the attack on the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad. "You had someone as despicable as Hitler who didn't even sink to using chemical weapons," Spicer said when asked about Russia's alliance with the Syrian government. The Nazis murdered six million Jews during World War II. Many Jews as well as others were killed in gas chambers in European concentration camps. When a reporter asked Spicer if he wanted to clarify his comments, he said: "I think when you come to sarin gas, there was no, he was not using the gas on his own people the same way that Assad is doing." Later on Tuesday, Spicer apologized and said he should not have made that comparison. "I made a mistake by trying to make a comparison that was completely wrong," he said. "I don't even know how to explain it. It was a straight up mistake." Speaking with CNN's Wolf Blitzer, he said, "I mistakenly used an inappropriate, insensitive reference to the Holocaust. I apologize. It was a mistake to do that. I shouldn't have done it and I won't do it again." Spicer called the office of Republican mega-donor Sheldon Adelson, a major giver to Jewish causes, soon after making the statements, according to Andy Abboud, an Adelson spokesman. "Sean called shortly after and said he made a terrible mistake and apologized if he was offensive," Abboud told Politico magazine. Spicer's assertion, made on the Passover holiday, sparked instant outrage on social media and from some Holocaust commemoration groups, who accused him of minimizing Hitler's crimes. "Sean Spicer now lacks the integrity to serve as White House press secretary, and President [Donald] Trump must fire him at once," said Steven Goldstein, executive director of the Anne Frank Center for Mutual Respect. Shortly after the White House briefing, Spicer emailed a statement to reporters in response to their queries, but had stopped short of offering an explicit apology. "In no way was I trying to lessen the horrendous nature of the Holocaust. I was trying to draw a distinction of the tactic of using airplanes to drop chemical weapons on population centers. Any attack on innocent people is reprehensible and inexcusable," Spicer said in the statement. The U.S. Holocaust Museum did not mention Spicer's comments directly, but sent out a tweet shortly after the briefing that showed graphic footage of dead bodies U.S. forces found while liberating the Buchenwald concentration camp. The video was retweeted more than a thousand times, with many Twitter users referencing Spicer's comments. U.S. House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi called on President Donald Trump to reject Spicer's assertion. "Sean Spicer must be fired, and the president must immediately disavow his spokesman's statements," Pelosi said in a statement. The White House did not immediately respond when asked to comment on Pelosi's statement. In Israel, meanwhile, the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial issued a statement rebuking Spicer on Wednesday. "Yad Vashem wishes to express grave concern over the White House spokesman's inaccurate and insensitive use of Holocaust-era terminology. His statements indicate a profound lack of understanding of the events during World War II, including the Holocaust, and could even embolden those who seek to distort history." Israel's transportation minister, Yisrael Katz, welcomed Spicer's apology, saying that "since he apologized and retracted his remarks, as far as I am concerned, the matter is over."
Credit: Reuters
Katz, a member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party, tweeted late Tuesday that Spicer's comments at the news briefing were "grave and outrageous," and said the White House spokesman should apologize or resign.
There was no immediate comment from other Israeli leaders, as during Passover government business is largely at a standstill and many residents of the country are on vacation.
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