NY Daily News Reports
Aubrey O'Day really put her foot in her mouth this time.
The former Danity Kane member dug herself into a hole Monday night in a heated debate on Fox News' "The Sean Hannity Show" when the 25-year-old singer spewed out claims that both Adolf Hitler and Fidel Castro were "brilliant" men.
"As someone who has met [Castro]... I met him and worked with him while I was in Cuba. I'm not defending his behavior, but in many instances, but I do have to say, I will 100% agree, he's an incredibly brilliant man, he has outlived tons of our Presidents," O'Day said.
When Hannity gave the pop singer a second chance to clarify her point, O'Day reiterated, "I'm sure many murderers are brilliant people."
"Was Hitler a brilliant man?" Hannity asked.
"I don't condone Hitler one ounce, but yes, he was a brilliant man," she said. "He ran a country and convinced everyone of horrible things."
In response, Hannity shook his head and cut to Greta Van Susteren. In an effort to save what dignity she has left, O'Day issued a statement to TMZ.
"Murderers and dictators generally are some of the smartest people out there - they just use their brain power for evil purposes. I don't condone any of their evil behavior, but I was asked about their intellectual firepower... and in my opinion you can't have a low IQ and wreck [sic] that much havoc on the world," O'Day said. "What Hitler succeeded in doing, was deplorable... And I hope we never see such an abusive use of power again."
Still, despite such qualifiers, some members of the Jewish community find the singer's statements unforgivable.
Rabbi Chaim Cunin of Chabad House told TMZ, "When a woman like her uses public airwaves, with access to millions of wonderful citizens of America, and calls some of the most despicable, unspeakable hatemongers of history brilliant, then something is lacking with her intelligence. This is a constant reminder of how careful we need to be when we talk about hate, because hatred is always present."
He added, "We need to make sure we are careful and that hatred doesn't rear its ugly head. I'd like for her to think about some older Holocaust survivor having that comment beamed into their home while they are enjoying the freedom that this beautiful country provides and having to listen to her disgusting comments."
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