White House press secretary Sean Spicer apparently misspoke Tuesday evening, saying that President Trump is trying to "destabilize" the Middle East. The comment came while Spicer was apologizing for his earlier, incorrect claim that Nazi leader Adolf Hitler did not use chemical weapons during World War II.



During an appearance on CNN on Tuesday evening, Spicer said he did not want his comments on Hitler to distract from Trump's attempts "to destabilize the region."



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Later in the interview, however, Spicer clarified that the U.S. wants to "bring stability" to the region. "Our number one priority is to make sure we bring stability to the region and root out ISIS," he said.

"I came out to make sure we stay focused on what the president is doing and his decisive action. I needed to make sure that I clarified, and not was in any shape or form any more of a distraction from the president's decisive action in Syria and the attempts that he is making to destabilize the region and root out ISIS out of Syria," Spicer said.

Spicer also apologized for claiming that Hitler did not use chemical weapons during World War II, admitting that the comparison he made to Syrian leader Bashar Assad during an earlier press briefing was "inappropriate" and "insensitive."



"I apologize. It was a mistake to do that," Spicer said.

It's the second time Spicer has said "destabilize" in recent remarks on the region.

During Monday's press briefing, he said one of the goals of U.S. policy there is "to make sure we destabilize Syria — destabilize the conflict there, reduce the threat of ISIS."

Wow @seanspicer said they wanted to "destabilize Syria" TWICE at yesterday's news briefing! I posted on it but assumed it was a slip. Yikes! https://t.co/rgRZQkh4cZ — Peter Eyre (@1stungun) April 11, 2017

This was not the first instance where Sean Spicer stated that #UnitedStates goal is to destabilize #Syria and region. First one below. pic.twitter.com/lX8CRin8MJ — Aldin (@CT_operative) April 11, 2017