Spicer on Syria: “You had someone as despicable as Hitler who didn’t even sink to using chemical weapons…” pic.twitter.com/UN3JfRRg0w
— Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) April 11, 2017
True to form for this entire disaster of an administration, Sean Spicer dipped into the Internet troll well of logic today when talking about last week’s chemical attack in Syria. Not only did he go full Godwin’s Law and invoke a Hitler comparison, but he couldn’t even get the basic, ludicrous sentiment behind that comparison right.
See, the Internet troll reasoning I’m referring to points to Hitler’s refusal to use chemical weapons in battle, despite the fact that he had no problem killing millions of people in gas chambers. It’s asinine, and the press even went so far as to allow Spicer a chance to clarify himself after he glossed over things to claim Adolf Hitler simply didn’t “sink to using chemical weapons,” but he somehow only managed to make it worse:
Apparently @seanspicer thinks concentration camps were called “Holocaust centers”?? pic.twitter.com/1X8QYWTffq
— Andrew Kirell (@AndrewKirell) April 11, 2017
He did finally get around to an attempt at mitigating his comments by acknowledging what was done at concentration camps—er, “Holocaust centers,” (?) as he called them—but he at no point backed down from the assertion that what Assad did in Syria was somehow different and worse. Not only that, but phrases like “his own people” and “innocent”—used to specify how Assad’s victims were different from Hitler’s—are disturbing, to say the least.
Does Spicer not think the Jewish people and others murdered during the Holocaust were innocent? Were they not Hitler’s own people somehow? Not to cross the Godwin line myself, but … you know who used that same basic line of thinking to commit those atrocities in the first place? You get one guess.
MSNBC with the winning chyron. pic.twitter.com/BxVFpBooVF
— Jennifer Bendery (@jbendery) April 11, 2017
The two best reactions to listening to @seanspicer try to explain the Holocaust… pic.twitter.com/wmrbhYbqVz
— Marcus Gilmer (@marcusgilmer) April 11, 2017
It also does nothing to explain why building and using the “Holocaust centers” wasn’t as bad as Assad’s chemical weapons attack (probably because it’s a ridiculous assertion in the first place). By the way, sarin gas—the gas Assad is suspected of using—was invented in Germany in 1938. Is there no low this administration won’t sink to? We’re past “facile Hitler comparisons”—during Passover, for crying out loud—already with no sign of hitting bottom.
Update: The Anne Frank Center has released a comment (thanks, doc!):
.@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
(image: MSNBC screengrab)
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