UPDATE II: Spicer has issued an apology.
Sean Spicer: I mistakenly used an inappropriate and insensitive reference to the Holocaust, there is no comparison https://t.co/Jgc1ccgMeK
— The Situation Room (@CNNSitRoom) April 11, 2017
UPDATE: The press office has issued another clarification.
"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 released in a statement.
The Anne Frank Center has also released a statement in response to Spicer's original comments.
.@POTUS @realDonaldTrump MUST FIRE SEAN SPICER NOW FOR ENGAGING IN HOLOCAUST DENIAL. OUR STATEMENT BELOW. #Antisemitism #NeverAgain pic.twitter.com/4dB9ESCaZr
— AnneFrankCenter(US) (@AnneFrankCenter) April 11, 2017
***Original Post***
During the daily White House briefing Tuesday, Press Secretary Sean Spicer said Hitler did not use chemical weapons during World War II.
.@PressSec on Syria: "You had someone as despicable as Hitler, who didn't even sink to using chemical weapons." https://t.co/e0HJ8Ci4U0 pic.twitter.com/fKYVchAsGo
— World News Tonight (@ABCWorldNews) April 11, 2017
He then tried to clarify, calling concentration camps "Holocaust centers" and saying Hitler didn't use gas on his own people in the same way Syrian President Assad did last week.
Here's the followup @PressSec comment about Assad & Hitler. I've rewound it 4 times. Did he say "Holocaust center?" https://t.co/oVQAWmm570
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) April 11, 2017
While it is true Hitler did not use chemical weapons against enemy militaries like the United States, Russia or Britain, he did gas millions of Jews (civilians) in concentration camps around Europe during WWII. Many of them were German citizens.