Sean Spicer Betrays Ignorance of Jewish Holocaust

FEATURING GEORGE LAKOFF – US Press secretary Sean Spicer this week dug himself into a hole when he compared Syrian President Bashar Al Assad to Hitler during a press conference. Spicer said, “you had someone as despicable as Hitler who didn’t even sink to using chemical weapons.” He added, “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.” Of course Hitler did indeed use chemical weapons on his own people and led a regime that killed millions of Jews and others. In an interview on CNN Spicer apologized but the damage was done. The Anne Frank Center for Mutual Respect has called for Spicer to be fired over the remarks.

While Spicer’s stunning ignorance was shocking, the Donald Trump administration has courted reactionary and even racist and fascist movements that follow Hitler’s ideology. During his campaign Trump re-tweeted the remarks of white supremacists, and neo-Nazi groups showed their support for his presidency. Today we’ll examine the role of language in the rise of the white supremacist movements that are enjoying a resurgence of power with Trump in the White House.

EVENT: George Lakoff will be in Los Angeles this Thursday April 13th from 7-9 pm at the IMAN Cultural Center, 3376 Motor Avenue, LA. The event is called What To Do Now: How We Can Win With the Right Message. Click HERE for tickets.

Find more at www.GeorgeLakoff.com.

George Lakoff, Professor of the Graduate School In Cognitive Science and Linguistics at the University of California at Berkeley, Director of Center for the Neural Mind & Society. He has written several books including Don’t Think of An Elephant, which was just republished, Moral Politics, and The Political Mind.