White House press secretary Sean Spicer apologized for claiming during Tuesday’s press briefing that Adolf Hitler did not use chemical weapons.
“I mistakenly used an inappropriate, insensitive reference to the Holocaust for which there is no comparison,” Spicer told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer.
Spicer made the comments while denouncing Syrian President Bashar Assad’s use of chemical weapons against his own people, triggering a U.S. military response ordered by President Trump.
“Why did you even make that comparison to Hitler on gas attacks?” Blitzer asked. “As you know, 6 million Jews killed in the Holocaust. Many of them with poison gas.”
The president’s press secretary acknowledged these facts and repeatedly said he would not try to “quantify” his mistake.
“Have you spoken to President Trump about your blunder today?” Blitzer demanded.
“It was my blunder, as you put it correctly,” Spicer responded. “And I came out to make sure we stay focused on what president is doing and his decisive action.”
Spicer was widely criticized for saying “didn’t even sink to using chemical weapons.” House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., called on Trump to fire him.
In his apology, Spicer agreed with those critics and also told Holocaust survivors and their descendants he was “in no way” standing by his press briefing comments.
