White House press secretary Sean Spicer was finally forced to apologize on Tuesday after making offensive and ignorant comments about Adolf Hitler in which he said, falsely, that the Nazi leader never used chemical weapons against his own people.
“We didn’t use chemical weapons in World War II,” Spicer said, setting off a trainwreck of bumbling rhetoric. “You know, you had someone as despicable as Hitler who didn’t even sink to using chemical weapons.”
Since not even the most devoted Trump administration supporter could defend his comments, Spicer was forced to apologize on CNN, calling his initial comments a “mistake.”
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Sean Spicer apologizes for his comments related to Hitler and chemical weapons: “There is no comparison†https://t.co/QdsfKesDPr
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) April 11, 2017
Spicer said: “I was obviously trying to make a point about the heinous acts that Assad had made against his own people last week, using chemical weapons and gas, but frankly, I mistakenly used an inappropriate and insensitive reference to the Holocaust for which, frankly, there is no comparison. And for that, I apologize. It was a mistake to do that.”
The White House press secretary apologized, as he should have, but the interview didn’t stop there.
As Spicer continued to talk about his initial comments, he made matters worse by admitting that he thought the real problem with what he said was that it wasn’t “on topic.”
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Spicer says “clearly†he was aware of the atrocities of the Holocaust and that he should have “stayed on topic†https://t.co/Gc1plAPz0b
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) April 11, 2017
“Clearly, I’m aware of [the atrocities of the Holocaust],” Spicer said. “I should’ve just stayed on topic”
First of all, saying he was “clearly” aware of anything regarding the Holocaust is a stretch. During his briefing earlier in the day, it couldn’t have been less clear that he had a clue about what Hitler did and didn’t do.
And secondly, the problem with Spicer’s comments were not that they were off message – it’s that the White House press secretary is this poorly informed on world history, and that will clearly do or say anything to bolster the ineffective actions of the Trump administration, even if that means downplaying the barbaric Nazi leader’s actions.
All of this would be mindboggling if it wasn’t so common with this administration.
Sean Colarossi currently resides in Cleveland, Ohio. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and was an organizing fellow for both of President Obama’s presidential campaigns. He also worked with Planned Parenthood as an Affordable Care Act Outreach Organizer in 2014, helping northeast Ohio residents obtain health insurance coverage.
