--- title: Sean Spicer 'Contacted by Sheldon Adelson' on Hitler Remarks description: The White House Press Secretary was reportedly contacted by the Republican mega-donor's office for remarks he made about the Holocaust. canonical: https://time.com/4735650/sean-spicer-sheldon-adelson-holocaust/ author: Feliz Solomon article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-04-12T03:56:10.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T04:21:14.544Z article:section: Politics og:title: Sheldon Adelson 'Contacted Sean Spicer' Over Hitler Remarks og:description: The billionaire is a major Trump backer and supports pro-Israel causes og:url: https://time.com/4735650/sean-spicer-sheldon-adelson-holocaust/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt717fa5df67c06acc/6988c25f97cdff06c76b032f/gettyimages-643304272.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Key Speakers At CLSA Japan Forum og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Sheldon Adelson 'Contacted Sean Spicer' Over Hitler Remarks twitter:description: The billionaire is a major Trump backer and supports pro-Israel causes twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt717fa5df67c06acc/6988c25f97cdff06c76b032f/gettyimages-643304272.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Sheldon Adelson's Office 'Contacted Sean Spicer' Over His Holocaust Remarks by [Feliz Solomon](/author/feliz-solomon/) ## Feliz Solomon Apr 12, 2017 3:56 AM CUT  Billionaire Sheldon Adelson in Tokyo, Japan, on Feb. 21, 2017. Billionaire Sheldon Adelson in Tokyo, Japan, on Feb. 21, 2017.Kiyoshi Ota—Bloomberg/Getty Images by [Feliz Solomon](/author/feliz-solomon/) ## Feliz Solomon Apr 12, 2017 3:56 AM CUT White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer was reportedly [contacted by the office of Republican mega-donor](http://edition.cnn.com/2017/04/11/politics/sean-spicer-hitler-assad-gas-chemical-weapons/ "undefined") Sheldon Adelson for remarks he made Tuesday downplaying atrocities committed by Adolf Hitler during the Holocaust. CNN reports that Adelson’s office reached out to Spicer after the gaffe. Spicer confirmed to the network that a talk took place, but would not elaborate on his “private conversation” with Adelson advisor Andy Abboud. Adelson, a billionaire and a major backer of Republican causes, is also one of America’s biggest donors to pro-Israel initiatives. The founder and CEO of the Las Vegas Sands Casino is a major funder of the Republican Jewish Coalition, the founder of the pro-Israel charity Adelson Family Foundation, and the owner of an Israeli daily newspaper. He also supports a number of political action committees geared toward electing Republicans, and provided some $25 million to President Donald Trump’s campaign last year. The conversation between Spicer and a representative of Adelson was [first flagged by Politico reporter](https://twitter.com/politicoalex/status/851940575020552192 "undefined") Alex Isenstadt on Twitter, prompting a whirlwind of speculation on social media. **Read More:** [_Following Weeks of Silence, President Trump Has Finally Spoken Out Against Anti-Semitism_](http://time.com/4677280/donald-trump-anti-semitism-jewish-leaders/ "undefined") Spicer is battling a barrage of criticism for the [comments he made](http://time.com/4735224/sean-spicer-hitler-chemical-weapons-transcript/ "undefined") during a White House press briefing, during which he attempted to make a comparison between Syrian President Bashar Assad and Hitler. In a condemnation of Assad’s recent chemical attack that killed upwards of 80 civilians, Spicer [falsely claimed](http://time.com/4734994/sean-spicer-syria-adolph-hitler-chemical-weapons-holocaust/ "undefined") that the German dictator “didn’t even sink to using chemical weapons.” “I was obviously trying to make a point about the heinous acts that Assad had made against his own people,” Spicer said later in a [televised apology](http://time.com/4735540/sean-spicer-hitler-chemical-weapons-apology/ "undefined"). “For that I apologize, it was a mistake to do that.” The mistake, however, was only the most recent in a string of public comments from the White House that have been viewed as anti-Semitic or insensitive; on Holocaust Remembrance Day in January, the administration neglected to mention Jewish people in a statement marking the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp, where more than a million Jews were killed. Tuesday’s gaffe was particularly poorly timed as the comments were made during Passover, one of the most important Jewish holidays. \[[CNN](http://edition.cnn.com/2017/04/11/politics/sean-spicer-hitler-assad-gas-chemical-weapons/ "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4735650/sean-spicer-sheldon-adelson-holocaust/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4735650/sean-spicer-sheldon-adelson-holocaust/"},"headline":"Sheldon Adelson's Office 'Contacted Sean Spicer' Over His Holocaust Remarks","datePublished":"2017-04-12T03:56:10.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T04:21:14.544Z","description":"The billionaire businessman and philanthropist is a major backer of both Republican and pro-Israel causes","url":"https://time.com/4735650/sean-spicer-sheldon-adelson-holocaust/","keywords":["White House","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt717fa5df67c06acc/6988c25f97cdff06c76b032f/gettyimages-643304272.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Feliz Solomon","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/feliz-solomon/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt717fa5df67c06acc/6988c25f97cdff06c76b032f/gettyimages-643304272.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Key Speakers At CLSA Japan Forum","caption":"Key Speakers At CLSA Japan Forum","creditText":"Kiyoshi Ota—Bloomberg/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/white-house/","name":"White House"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4735650/sean-spicer-sheldon-adelson-holocaust/","name":"Sheldon Adelson's Office 'Contacted Sean Spicer' Over His Holocaust Remarks"}}]}] ```