Anne Frank Center issued a statement on Tuesday calling on President Trump to fire Sean Spicer after his Hitler comment about chemical weapons.
White House press secretary Sean Spicer is facing serious backlash after making some controversial comments about Hitler and the Holocaust.
The U.S.-based Anne Frank Center for Mutual Respect tweeted to President Trump, “MUST FIRE SEAN SPICER NOW FOR ENGAGING IN HOLOCAUST DENIAL.”
The firestorm began during a Tuesday press briefing when a reporter asked Spicer about the strong relationship between Russia’s president Vladimir Putin and President Bashar al-Assad of Syria--the latter of whom Spicer had accused earlier of initiating a chemical attack within his own country.
Spicer responded to the question by saying, “...we didn't use chemical weapons in World War II. You had someone as despicable as Hitler who didn't even sink to using chemical weapons.”
Later in the briefing, when a reporter asked Spicer to clarify his comment about Hitler, the press secretary said, “I think when you come to sarin gas...he was not using the gas on his own people the same way that Assad is doing.”
According to the outlet Talking Points Memo, “His remarks were striking given that Hitler killed millions of Jews, including German citizens, many in gas chambers.”
The Anne Frank Center’s Executive Director, Steven Goldstein, agreed, saying in the group’s statement, “On Passover no less, Sean Spicer has engaged in Holocaust denial, the most offensive form of fake news imaginable, by denying Hitler gassed millions of Jews to death.”
Spicer is also being criticized for referring to Hitler’s concentration camps as “Holocaust centers.”
According to the Washington Post, Spicer quickly issued a statement after the briefing, saying, in part, “In no way was I trying to lessen the horrendous nature of the Holocaust."