Politics
AP Photo/David Zalubowski
U.S. Rep. Mike Coffman, R-Colo., talks to reporters before addressing constituents during a town hall meeting in a hall on the campus of the University of Colorado Medical School late Wednesday, April 12, 2017, in Aurora, Colo.
At least one Republican lawmaker is asking White House press secretary Sean Spicer to quit, following an uproar over Spicer's reference to Hitler during a press briefing.Rep. Mike Coffman of Colorado said during a town hall meeting Wednesday, "He needs to go. Because I just don't think he's serving the president well."
Coffman's audience erupted in cheers.
Spicer on Tuesday attempted to emphasize the atrocity of last week's chemical-weapons attack in Syria by comparing Syrian President Bashar Assad to Adolf Hitler. Spicer said, "someone as despicable as Hitler didn't even sink to using chemical weapons."
Spicer's ahistorical anecdote prompted harsh criticism far and wide, with several high-profile figures, lawmakers, and organizations urging President Donald Trump to fire him.
The press secretary, who, in roughly three months on the job, has been cornered for making a number of controversial statements, apologized profusely for the Hitler remark, but also made a couple more verbal blunders in the process.
Coffman did the same thing during his town hall meeting after saying Spicer should resign. The audience's cheers briefly turned to boos when Coffman attempted to elaborate on Spicer's Hitler comments.
"Don't apologize for him!," an audience member shouted.