A Canadian comedian is using Sean Spicer's latest gaffe as an opportunity to promote Holocaust education and awareness.
Nathan Fielder, who hosts the docu-reality sketch series "Nathan For You," offered to send the White House Press Secretary an extra-large Summit Ice jacket one day after he falsely claimed Hitler did not use chemical weapons during the Holocaust. Spicer has subsequently apologized for his remarks, and this incorrect comparison to Syrian President Bashar Assad, calling his mistake "inexcusable and reprehensible."
Fielder started the not-for-profit Summit Ice outerwear line back in 2015. According to its official website, 100 per cent of its profits go to the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre.
The Vancouver-born comic founded the line after he discovered another B.C.-based clothing company, Taiga — whose jacket he had worn during previous sketches and on-camera appearances — had connections to the late Doug Collins, a columnist whose writings were associated with anti-Semitic remarks. Fielder ditched his Taiga jacket and switched to wearing his own Summit Ice brand jacket after learning of this connection.
Designed to fight Holocaust denial, the Summit Ice slogan is, aptly, "deny nothing."
Seth Rogen, Rob Lowe, Alexandra Daddario and John Mayer are among the celebrities who have been photographed wearing Fielder's Summit Ice jacket.
Last month, Fielder opened a Summit Ice pop-up shop in Vancouver, and promised to pledge US$150,000 to the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre. The CBC reports the brand has sold over $500,000 worth of merchandise since its inception.
Fielder is not alone in condemning or mocking Spicer for his incorrect remarks. The Anne Frank Center has called for his dismissal for "engaging in Holocaust denial," and Jimmy Kimmel skewered his comments on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" by imagining his thoughts in that exact moment.
"Did I just defend Hitler?" asked a Spicer sound-a-like in the talk show clip. "Hitler?!? I think I did. Why did I even do that? Why even bring up the Holocaust? At press secretary school, the one rule was, 'Never defend Hitler.' "
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