BERLIN (AP) -- A top aide to German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder defended the justice minister Friday against reports that she compared President Bush to Adolf Hitler and expressed surprise at the White House's sharp reaction.
The reported remarks by Justice Minister Herta Daeubler-Gmelin have led to calls for her resignation just two days before national elections.
The regional newspaper the Schwabisches Tagblatt reported Thursday that Daeubler-Gmelin, while speaking about U.S. threats toward Iraq, told a small group of labor members: "Bush wants to distract attention from his domestic problems. That's a popular method. Even Hitler did that."
Schroeder, who has recently sparred with Washington over his outspoken opposition to war against Iraq, said Thursday he could not imagine Daeubler-Gmelin had meant to liken Bush to Hitler.
White House spokesman Ari Fleischer described the reported statement as "outrageous and inexplicable."
Asked about the U.S. reaction to the reported comments, Schroeder adviser Franz Muentefering said, "I'm surprised at the speed with which the reaction came. Perhaps it would have been better to speak to Herta Daeubler-Gmelin first."
"I have spoken to her and she stresses that she didn't say it," Muentefering told ZDF television. "She feels that she has been abused and distorted."
Muentefering is the general secretary of Schroeder's Social Democratic Party.
On Thursday, the minister called the portrayal of her comments as "far-fetched and slanderous."
The chief editor of the Schwaebisches Tagblatt said Friday he stood by the remarks as reported, insisting that several witnesses had confirmed Daeubler-Gmelin's choice of words. The editor, Christoph Mueller, also said his reporter had checked the wording with Daeubler-Gmelin herself when she telephoned to clarify her remarks.
Justice Ministry spokesman Thomas Weber confirmed that the minister had been in touch with the newspaper, but disputed its version of events.
He said Daeubler-Gmelin had called U.S. Ambassador Dan Coats Friday morning and "made it clear that these reports have no basis."
The alleged remarks drew a sharp response from the Los Angeles-based Simon Wiesenthal Center, a Jewish rights group.
"We are outraged that such a respected and thoughtful official of the German government would in any way compare the strategy or substance of U.S. policy vis-a-vis (Iraqi leader) Saddam Hussein to Adolf Hitler," said its associate dean, Rabbi Abraham Cooper.
