Topline
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is facing fierce backlash from Democrats over his controversial statements during a dinner party in Manhattan last week where he suggested Covid-19 was genetically engineered to target certain races and give others immunity—adding to his long history of spreading unfounded conspiracies about topics ranging from vaccines to mass shootings.
Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. visits “Fox & Friends” at Fox News Channel … [+]
Key Facts
Kennedy Jr., who is running for president as a Democrat, was caught on camera telling fellow diners Tuesday at Tony’s Di Napoli that “Covid-19 is targeted to attack Caucasians and Black people” and “the people who are most immune are Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese,” according to a video of his comments made public in the New York Post.
He also made the unfounded claim that the U.S. “put hundreds of millions of dollars into ethnically targeted microbes” and that there were labs in Ukraine collecting Russian and Chinese DNA “so we can target people by race.”
The remarks prompted widespread criticism from Jewish groups and Democrats: Democratic National Party Chairman Jamie Harrison called the statements “deeply troubling” in a tweet and said “they do not represent the views of the Democratic Party,” while the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee characterized the remarks as “reprehensible anti-semitic and anti-Asian comments aimed at perpetuating harmful and debunked racist tropes.”
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Monday also condemned the comments, telling reporters “the claims made on that tape is [sic] false, it is vile and they put our our fellow Americans in danger,” while Kennedy Jr.’s nephew, Joe Kennedy III, a former Democratic congressman from Massachusetts, tweeted that the comments were “hurtful and wrong,” adding, “I unequivocally condemn what he said.”
On Monday, House Democrats on the Weaponization of the Federal Government Subcommittee also sent a letter to their Republican colleagues seeking to ban Kennedy Jr. from testifying before the subcommittee Thursday, according to Punchbowl, which reported that the letter compares Kennedy to Adolf Hitler and accuses him of “employing a pernicious form of antisemitism that has been used for centuries.”
Kyle Herring, Executive Director of the Congressional Integrity Project, a group that advocates against House Republicans’ investigations of the Biden Administration, also penned a letter to Subcommittee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) calling on him to prohibit Kennedy Jr.’s testimony, calling his statements “evidence of his horrific antisemitic and xenophobic views” that are “simply beyond the pale.”
Contra
Jordan told Politico on Monday that Kennedy Jr.’s testimony will continue as scheduled, adding that he “totally [disagrees] with what he said, but he’s a Democrat . . . I disagree with other things he said too. But we’re having him because of censorship.”
Chief Critic
The American Jewish Committee called Kennedy Jr.’s comments “deeply offensive and incredibly dangerous” in a statement to CNN, adding that “every aspect of his comments reflects some of the most abhorrent antisemitic conspiracy theories throughout history and contributes to today’s dangerous rise of antisemitism.”
Crucial Quote
Kennedy Jr. attempted to walk back the comments, calling the New York Post story “mistaken” and claiming he has “never, ever suggested that the Covid-19 virus was targeted to spare Jews” in a tweet. Instead, he claimed he “accurately pointed out” that “that the U.S. and other governments are developing ethnically targeted bioweapons and that a 2021 study of the COVID-19 virus shows that COVID-19 appears to disproportionately affect certain races.”
What To Watch For
Kennedy Jr. is scheduled to testify Thursday in a hearing about “Big Tech’s collusion with out-of-control government agencies to silence speech.” The investigation, opened by the GOP-led House subcommittee, is part of Republicans’ push to accuse the Biden Administration of working with social media companies to censor right-wing commentary. Kennedy Jr. was temporarily banned from Instagram for violating its policies against vaccine misinformation and YouTube also removed a video of him espousing anti-vaccine conspiracies in June. The invitation from Republicans for Kennedy Jr. to testify could also been seen as a way for Republicans to uplift him with the intent of hurting Biden’s re-election campaign.
Key Background
Kennedy Jr. the son of former U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, has a long history of spreading conspiracy theories over the past two decades and his nonprofit Children’s Health Defense was a prominent source of anti-vaccine sentiment during the Covid-19 pandemic. In addition to his anti-vaccine rhetoric, he has also given merit to the bogus conspiracies that Democrat John Kerry was the true winner of the 2004 presidential election, that mass shootings are linked to prescription drugs and the wrong person was convicted of killing his father. Despite his controversial history, he has relatively strong poll numbers, with some showing 20% of Democrats back his presidential bid. His support has reportedly raised concerns among Democrats that the poll numbers are a sign of Biden’s weakness among voters.
Further Reading
RFK Jr. Makes Unfounded Claims About Mass Shootings, Covid-19: Here Are All The Conspiracies He Promotes (Forbes)
How RFK Jr. Brought In More Than $9 Million Over The Past 18 Months (Forbes)
RFK Jr. Challenging Biden For Democratic Nomination—But Anti-Vaccine Activist Has Little Chance (Forbes)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/saradorn/2023/07/17/democrats-revolt-against-rfk-jr-over-reprehensible-anti-semitic-and-anti-asian-comments/