Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
The Schmooze

Chelsea Handler And Barbra Streisand Slam Spicer’s Holocaust Gaffe

Sean Spicer is currently being ripped apart for statements he made while comparing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to Adolf Hitler.

“You had someone as despicable as Hitler who didn’t even sink to using chemical weapons,” Spicer said during Tuesday’s press conference.

When reporters reminded him that Hitler did in fact use gas to kill millions during the Holocaust, the press secretary tried to backpedal — and then dug an even deeper hole.

“He was not using the gas on his own people the same way that Assad is doing,” Spicer said. “He brought them into the Holocaust center, I understand that. But I’m saying in the way Assad used them, where he went into towns, dropped them down to innocent — into the middle of towns. It was brought — the use of it, I appreciate the clarification. That was not the intent.”

Many celebrities are speaking out against Spicer’s comment, dubbing it a “s—t show,” and calling for the press secretary to step down.

Here’s just a few of those reactions.

Thea Glassman is an Associate Editor at the Forward. Reach her at glassman@forward.com or on Twitter at @theakglassman.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at editorial@forward.com, subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.

Exit mobile version