Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte 'happy to slaughter' addicts as Hitler did Jews
The president of the Philippines Rodrigo Duterte has said he would be "happy to slaughter" as many drug addicts as Hitler did Jews.
It is the latest outburst by President Duterte, who took office in June following an election campaign in which he appeared to encourage extrajudicial killings in an attempt to eradicate drugs. Around 3,000 people have since been killed by police and vigilantes.
In a rambling speech in Davao City, Duterte said: "Hitler massacred three million Jews. Now, there is three million drug addicts. I'd be happy to slaughter them."
"If Germany had Hitler, the Philippines would have...," he said, pausing and pointing to himself.
His comments were quickly condemned by Jewish groups.
Rabbi Abraham Cooper, head of the Simon Wiesenthal Center's Digital Terrorism and Hate project, called them "outrageous".
"Duterte owes the victims (of the Holocaust) an apology for his disgusting rhetoric," he said.
The Anti-Defamation League, an international Jewish group based in the United States, said Duterte's comments were "shocking for their tone-deafness".
"The comparison of drug users and dealers to Holocaust victims is inappropriate and deeply offensive," said Todd Gutnick, the group's director of communications. "It is baffling why any leader would want to model himself after such a monster."
Earlier this month Duterte called President Obama a "whore", and last week he reacted angrily to concerns about the killings by EU leaders, saying: "I will tell them, 'f*** you".