Trump aide: Hitler didn’t use gas

WHITE House Press Secretary Sean Spicer caused uproar yesterday by suggesting that Adolf Hitler did not use chemical weapons during World War Two.

During his daily press conference, Mr Spicer inaccurately claimed the Nazi dictator ‘didn’t even sink to using chemical weapons’.

‘We didn’t use chemical weapons in World War Two,’ said Mr Spicer, adding that ‘someone as despicable as Hitler ... didn’t even sink to using chemical weapons.’

Minutes later, he delivered a garbled defence in which he tried to differentiate between Hitler’s actions and the gas attack on Syrian civilians last week.

‘He (Hitler) was not using the gas on his own people the same way that Assad is doing,’ he said. The Nazis murdered millions of Jews and other victims by gassing them with chemical agents.

After the briefing, Mr Spicer emailed reporters and said: ‘In no way was I trying to lessen the horrendous nature of the Holocaust.’

The attack in Northern Syria left nearly 90 people dead, and Turkey’s health minister said tests show sarin gas was used. Despite last week’s strikes on a Syrian airbase, Assad has continued to wage war against his citizens.

Government forces battling insurgents in Daraa have dropped several barrel bombs on the southern city, opposition activists claimed yesterday.

The accusations come a day after Mr Spicer said that the use of the bombs might prompt a US response.

Speaking to reporters on Monday, Mr Spicer said: ‘If you gas a baby, if you put a barrel bomb into innocent people ... You will see a response from this president. That is unacceptable.’