WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer has apologized for his controversial remarks that Adolf Hitler did not use chemical weapons as did Syrian President Bashar al Assad. Spicer made the controversial remarks comparing the two leaders while responding to a question during press briefing Tuesday.
Referring to Russian President Putin's support to Syria, a correspondent asked Spicer, 'What makes you think that at this point he's going to pull back in his support for President Assad and for the Syrian government right now?'
'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. So you have to, if you're Russia, ask yourself is this a country that you and a regime that you want to align yourself with,' the spokesman replied.
When astonished journalists sought clarification on his remarks, Spicer said: 'I think when you come to sarin gas, there was no -- he (Hitler) was not using the gas on his own people the same way that Assad is doing.'
Hitler, who gassed millions during the Holocaust, did not use chemical weapons against his own people, while the authoritarian Syrian President is blamed for many chemical attacks that killed civilians.
A U.N. fact-finding mission found likely use of the nerve agent sarin in at least three deadly attacks and a couple of dropping of chlorine bombs.
'I mistakenly used an inappropriate and insensitive reference to the Holocaust for which, frankly, there is no comparison,' Spicer later told CNN.
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