Responding to remarks made by White House press secretary Sean Spicer where he suggested that even Adolf Hitler had not used the kind of chemical weapons that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad had, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley called the comments "unfortunate". Hitler gassed millions of people in concentration camps, including German Jews.
Apologising for his comments, Mr Spicer said he had learned to "think before you speak".
"Spicer made a bad mistake yesterday".
"And for that I apologise. It was a mistake to do that".
On Monday, the White House clarified remarks by Mr Spicer that the use of barrel bombs by the Assad regime might lead to further military action by the US.
"I screwed up", Spicer said during a forum at the Newseum in Washington.
Philippine Troops Kill Militant Blamed For Beheading Canadians
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has ordered troops to destroy the extremists in Sulu and in outlying island provinces. Its leaders have also pledged allegiance to Islamic State gunmen in Iraq and Syria.
After Spicer's apology on Blitzer's broadcast Tuesday evening, a person close to Spicer told CNN's Jeff Zeleny that the press secretary's fate is unknown. "I would ask for folks' forgiveness".
"Spicer's statement is the most evil slur upon a group of people we have ever heard from a White House press secretary". He called Hitler "despicable" but wrongly alleged that the Nazi leader did not use "the gas on his own people the same way Assad used them". After the briefing, Spicer emailed a statement to reporters: "In no way was I trying to lessen the horrendous nature of the Holocaust". Why even bring up the Holocaust? "It was a mistake to do that and, again, that's why I should have just stayed on topic, stayed focused on the actions that Assad had taken and the disgusting atrocities that he had committed against his own people".
White House spokesman Sean Spicer on Wednesday said his gaffe about the Holocaust "let the President down" and was "reprehensible", especially because "it's a very holy week".
Some are calling on Spicer to resign or be fired. Ben Cardin, D-Md., said on Twitter, "Someone get @PressSec a refresher history course on Hitler stat #Icantbelievehereallysaidthat". Eighty-seven people, including children, were killed in last week's chemical weapons attack in Syria.
US President Donald Trump's administration announced it will cut donations to Fund, citing violation of key US law.
Comments