Sean Spicer criticised after saying 'even Hitler didn't use chemical weapons'

White House press secretary Sean Spicer is in hot water after saying Adolf Hitler did not use chemical weapons.

Comparing the World War II Nazi leader with President Bashar al-Assad of Syria, Spicer told journalists: "You had someone who was as despicable as Hitler who didn't even sink to using chemical weapons."

Spicer was responding to a question about the US administration's hardening policy on Syria following the use of illegal chemical weapons on Khan Sheikhoun, in Idlib, in an attack that killed 89 people.

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Asked to expand on his comments, he said: "[Hitler] was not using the gas on his own people the same way that Assad is doing."

MSNBC's Steve Benen says the inaccuracy of Spicer's statement was "remarkable", adding: "One need not be a historian to know Hitler gassed Holocaust victims."

It was a stunning gaffe, says CNN. "Spicer forgot the first rule of politics," it reports. "Never, ever compare anyone or anything to Adolf Hitler."

Half an hour after the press conference, Spicer released a statement claiming his Hitler reference was intended to "draw a distinction" highlighting the unprecedented nature of Assad's use of planes to drop chemical weapons on population centres.

"In no way was I trying to lessen the horrendous nature of the Holocaust," he added.

This is not the first time Donald Trump's administration has invoked Nazis to decry its enemies. In January, the then president elect was criticised for a tweet asking: "Are we living in Nazi Germany?" after leaks from US intelligence agencies concerning his Russian connections. Critics now argue Spicer's comments have disturbing implications.

Repeatedly using unmerited comparisons with Nazi Germany serves to "minimise the scale of Hitler's crimes", says The Guardian's Timothy Snyder, and "trivialisation is a step towards denial".

Particularly disturbing, adds the journalist, is Spicer's use of the phrase "his own people". The idea that Hitler was "not as evil" as Assad because Assad targeted fellow Syrians is a "moral horror", says Snyder, and a worrying insight into the us-and-them mindset of the administration.

More than a million Jews and other minorities were killed during the Holocaust by the poisonous Zyklon B gas, which contained hydrogen cyanide.

In addition, upwards of 70,000 physically or mentally disabled adults and children were gassed or injected with toxic chemicals in special "treatment" centres between 1940 and 1942.