Spicer apologises for 'inexcusable' Hitler gaffe

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Spicer raised eyebrows in the White House press room when he made the statement that the infamous German dictator had not used chemical weapons during the Holocaust.

"I hope people understand we all make mistakes; I hope I showed I understand that", Spicer said.

He was accused of being insensitive to Jews and Holocaust survivors. "(Hitler) was not using the gas on his own people the same way that Assad is doing", Spicer said.

The last time Spicer spoke to reporters on camera, Tuesday, he condemned Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime for using chemical weapons against civilians.

Why does everyone keep making Nazi comparisons?

White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer made the rounds to apologize after Tuesday's controversial remarks.

Mr Spicer said his comments were professionally upsetting because he had "distracted" attention from President Trump's "unbelievable" couple of weeks.

The American Jewish Committee also denounced the comments, saying it was "astonished".

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Steven Goldstein, director of the Anne Frank Center, said Spicer "delivered one of the most repulsive, prejudiced and grotesque statements we have ever heard delivered from a White House podium".

"Why would [Trump] not want a guy that makes him look good?" "I understand the point, thank you, thank you I appreciate that". "Any attack on innocent people is reprehensible and inexcusable". "I think what he was saying is that Hitler didn't take chemical weapons out in a battle-like form and do what Assad did with these children".

On Wednesday, speaking at a forum at the Newseum, Spicer called the incident "my mistake" and "my bad".

Greenblatt called the comments, "not only historically inaccurate" but also "inappropriate and offensive".

Spicer said he is especially sorry that the comments happened during what is "a very holy week" for both Jews and Christians and that there is no comparing atrocities.

Poisonous gas was used by Hitler's Nazi Germany to kill millions of people.

This kind of humility is strikingly uncharacteristic of the Trump White House in general, and Spicer in particular. He said the programs provide historical context about how the Holocaust occurred and prompt critical thinking.

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