Democratic strategist David Axelrod joined the pile-on mocking Sean Spicer’s Tuesday denial that Adolf Hitler used chemical weapons, saying the White House press secretary had earned a cameo in many a Passover conversation.
Spicer fumbled while discussing Syrian President Bashar Assad, whose use of chemical weapons against his nation’s citizens led to President Trump launching missiles against Syria late last week.
“We did not use chemical weapons in World War II,” Spicer said. “You had someone as despicable as Hitler who did not even sink to using chemical weapons.”
Spicer appeared to only dig himself into a deeper hole when given a chance to clarify his remarks later in the press briefing.
{mosads}“When it comes to sarin gas, [Hitler] was not using the gas on his own people the same way that Assad is doing,” he said, provoking audible groans from assembled reporters.
“[Hitler] brought them into the Holocaust centers, I understand that,” Spicer added.
“I was saying in the way that Assad used them where he went into town, dropped them into the middle of town.”
Spicer tried explaining himself a third time on Twitter following his first remarks to the media.
“In no way was I trying to lessen the horrendous nature of the Holocaust,” he said.
“I was trying to draw a distinction of the tactic of using airplanes to drop chemical weapons on population centers.”
The Anne Frank Center and Democrats including House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (Calif) quickly called for Spicer’s resignation.