This week marks the celebration of the Jewish holiday Passover.
During this celebration, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer justified the missile strike against Syria by saying Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was worse than Hitler because Hitler never used chemical weapons. The New York Times quotes Spicer as having said “you had someone as despicable as Hitler who didn’t even sink to using chemical weapons.”
I understand that the timing of the missile strike and Passover have overlapped, but Spicer could have been more tactful about the comparison.
This situation has been so offensive that the Anne Frank Center has requested President Trump fire Spicer over the comments.
Spicer went on to spew even more ignorance at this press conference, according to the New York Times having said “I think when you come to sarin gas, he was not using the gas on his own people the same way that Assad is doing.”
I’m not sure if Spicer ever studied the Holocaust, but those who were killed in concentration camps were frequently killed in gas chambers.
Gas chambers employed poisonous gases such as Zyklon B, a chemical.
Later, when questioned about his comments, Spicer acknowledged Hitler did indeed use chemicals. After that, he went on to call concentration camps “Holocaust centers.”
I am just absolutely shocked at the lack of care and knowledge in the situation. I wonder if politicians actually think before they speak these days. Yes, these interviews and press conferences come with little preparation and they cannot always anticipate the questions they will receive. But this information should be widely known enough that any American citizen could have learned in school. The fact that Hitler used chemical weapons in his Holocaust against the Jewish people is well known.
On Twitter, Chelsea Clinton challenged Spicer to visit the Holocaust Museum, especially because it is only a few blocks away from the White House.
Spicer tried to say that Hitler was not intending to gas his citizens in the same way that Assad has. I’m not sure if there are different levels of acceptability to gassing innocent citizens.
CNN columnist Chris Cillizza said Spicer broke a big political rule in comparing anything to Hitler. The idea is that by comparing situations to Hitler and by saying that something is worse or better than Hitler’s actions ends the conversation and lets those who are justifying bad actions feel better about themselves.
Comparisons to Hitler are a discussion ender.
Comments about the Holocaust and Hitler are generally off limits, and no matter the political party we all understand that it was terrible.
I’m hoping that at least in this time of turbulence and divided opinions about what happened with and in Syria, we can come together and agree that this statement and the following thoughts were out of line.
mmgarbac@umail.iu.edu
