Sean Spicer said Hitler didn't use chemical weapons and the internet schooled him

Yes he did, Sean.
 By 
Brian Koerber
 on 
Original image replaced with Mashable logo

White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer apparently skipped WWII day in his high school history class.

Spicer found himself at the mercy of the internet (yet again) on Tuesday after he delivered some especially alternative facts during the White House daily press briefing.

While answering a question on the alliance between Russia and Syria, Spicer incorrectly stated that Hitler did not engage in chemical warfare during World War II.

"We didn't use chemical weapons in World War II," Spicer said. "You know, you had someone as despicable as Hitler who didn't even sink to using chemical weapons."

Fact check: The Nazis infamously used chemical weapons during World War II by gassing millions, most of whom were Jewish, in gas chambers mostly located in concentration camps.

When called out for the comment, Spicer stumbled his way through a clarification by trying to say that Hitler did use chemical weapons, but in a different way than the recent chemical attack in Syria.

He also referred to concentration camps as "Holocaust centers" so, there's that.

Here's what the assembled White House reporters thought of his explanation:

UPDATE: April 11, 2017, 12:23 p.m. PDT Spicer later added a clarification to his clarification.

UPDATE: April 11, 2017, 3:50 p.m. PDT Spider appeared on CNN on Tuesday afternoon to apologize for the comments he made during the press briefing.

But in the middle of his apology, Spicer said that he didn't want to distract from Trump's attempt "to destabilize the region." Yes, destabilize.

The internet took it upon itself to school Spicer on his poor choice of words and outright misunderstanding of WWII basics.

Topics Politics

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Brian Koerber

Brian was the Culture Editor and has been working at Mashable on the web culture desk since 2014.

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