Sean Spicer Says Hitler Didn't Use Chemical Weapons, Igniting Backlash

WASHINGTON, DC — White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer delivered a televised briefing with reporters Tuesday afternoon, with discussions continuing to focus on Syria's chemical attacks. In his comments, he mistakenly said that Adolf Hitler never used chemical weapons, sparking outrage.

So how did Hitler even come up? When Spicer was asked whether the administration believes that Russia had foreknowledge of Syria's chemical attacks, he said simply that there's no consensus in the intelligence community on this point yet. He said that it is very important to enforce the agreement that was made under the Obama administration to dismantle Assad's chemical weapons capacity.

But he added that Russia is likely to be isolated in its support of Assad, given the horror of the regime's use of chemical weapons. (For more information on this and other political stories, subscribe to the White House Patch for daily newsletters and breaking news alerts.)

"You had someone who is despicable as Hitler who didn't even sink to using chemical weapons," Spicer said. However, observers noted that the Nazis did use lethal gas to kill people in concentration camps. Spicer later clarified that he meant that Hitler did not use sarin gas in the way Assad did, but only caused more confusion.

"He was not using the gas on his own people the same way that Assad is doing," Spicer added when pressed. "He brought them into the Holocaust centers, I understand that. But [not] in the way that Bashar al-Assad used them where he went into towns, dropped them down, into the middle of towns."

Since many German people were brought to concentration camps and killed, many people found this clarification also perplexing, and many found it morally offensive. The phrase "Holocaust centers" was also a puzzling choice of words.

After he left the podium, however, critics lashed out at Spicer's comments. The Anne Frank Center said on Twitter that Spicer must be fired for "engaging in Holocaust denial."

Spicer tried to clarify yet again in a follow-up statement: "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 did not explain what was important about the distinction between using gas from air planes and using it in other ways.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi later called for Spicer's firing as well. "While Jewish families across America celebrate Passover, the chief spokesman of this White House is downplaying the horror of the Holocaust. Sean Spicer must be fired, and the President must immediately disavow his spokesman's statements. Either he is speaking for the President, or the President should have known better than to hire him."

The bulk of the briefing focused on Russia's relationship with Assad.

Spicer criticized Russia for trying to muddy the waters on the question of whether or not Assad used chemical weapons. "We have the facts on our side," Spicer said, reiterating that the Assad regime did clearly use gas against his own citizens.

"The only countries not supporting the United States' position on this is Syria, North Korea, Iran and Russia," he said.

With Secretary of State Rex Tillerson heading to Russia to meet with President Vladimir Putin following the Syrian chemical weapons attacks, the White House continues to face questions about its plans for President Assad and diplomacy with Moscow.

He also said that the if people doubt that Syria used chemical weapons, they're doubting most legitimate sources of information, including the news agencies that were on the ground and the official opinion of most other major countries in the world.

On the topic of health care reform, Spicer said the White House sees that the process is moving in the right direction. He said that the discussions are leading toward greater autonomy for the states.

When Spicer was asked about the incident on United Airlines when a man was dragged off a flight, he said, "There are plenty of law enforcement to review a situations like that. Let's not get ahead of where the review goes"

But he also acknowledged that he thought it was "troubling to see how that was handled." He continued to say that "we can all agree" that the situation could have been handled better.

Asked about whether or not the president will release his tax returns, Spicer said that this question has been "asked and answered." However, Trump has repeatedly said that he will release his taxes after an audit is completed. No evidence has been provided that the audit is in fact taking place, and no timetable has been given for their release. Trump could also release his 2017 tax returns now, which haven't yet been filed and therefore could not yet be under audit.

Watch a replay of the proceedings below.

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Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images News/Getty Images