Donald Trump Jr., the son of GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump, was blasted Thursday for making what many took to be an unseemly Holocaust reference while defending his father.
Trump Jr. accused the media of propping up Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton and the Democratic National Committee, adding that "they'd be warming up the gas chamber" if Republicans acted as the Democrats had.
"Without the media, this wouldn't even be a contest, but the media has built her up. They've let her slide on every indiscrepancy, on every lie, on every DNC game trying to get Bernie Sanders out of this thing," Trump Jr. told a Philadelphia radio station Wednesday.
"If Republicans were doing that, they'd be warming up the gas chamber right now," he added.
He was roundly criticized for the remark. The Anti-Defamation League, which seeks to fight anti-Semitism, called out Trump Jr. for making what it called "Holocaust jokes" and urged him to retract the statement.
"Trivialization of the Holocaust and gas chambers is NEVER okay," the group said on Twitter.
Trump Jr. told MSNBC that when he said gas chamber, he was referring to "corporal punishment," not the Holocaust.
It's not the first time Trump Jr. has found himself at the center of controversy in this campaign. He also has been criticized for associating with white supremacists on social media, and for pushing conspiracy theories.
