Despite tremendous outrage over remarks Robert F. Kennedy Jr. made that have been called antisemitic and Sinophobic, Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy is refusing to cancel the conspiracy theorist’s and anti-vaxxer’s scheduled appearance to testify before Congress this week. The New York Times reported on Kennedy’s comments, calling them “bigoted.”
In remarks published over the weekend by the New York Post‘s Jon Levine, RFK Jr. strongly suggested the virus that causes COVID-19 was “targeted to attack Caucasians and Black people” while Jewish and Chinese people were most immune. His sister resoundingly denounced his remarks on Monday.
“I strongly condemn my brother’s deplorable and untruthful remarks last week about Covid being engineered for ethnic targeting,” Kerry Kennedy said in a statement, as NBC News reported, which was “released by the non-profit group Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights where she serves as president.”
“His statements do not represent what I believe or what Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights stand for, with our 50+-year track record of protecting rights and standing against racism and all forms of discrimination,” she added.
Kerry Kennedy and her brother, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. are the children of the late U.S. Attorney General and U.S. Senator Robert F. Kennedy. RFK Jr. is running for president as a Democrat.
“COVID-19,” RFK Jr. said. “There is an argument that it is ethnically targeted. COVID-19 attacks certain races disproportionately.” He added, “COVID-19 is targeted to attack Caucasians and black people. The people who are most immune are Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese.”
“We don’t know whether it was deliberately targeted or not but there are papers out there that show the racial or ethnic differential and impact,” Kennedy also said.
On Saturday Kennedy insisted he did not say what was recorded on video, and insisted his remarks were supposed to be off the record.
Virologist Dr. Angela Rasmussen delivered a multi-faceted response against Kennedy’s remarks.
The Anti-Defamation League and many others denounced Kennedy’s remarks on COVID.
Monday afternoon Speaker Kevin McCarthy told reporters he had no intention of pulling RFK Jr.’s invitation to testify before Chairman Jim Jordan’s House Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government on Thursday.
“The hearing will examine the federal government’s role in censoring Americans, the Missouri v. Biden case, and Big Tech’s collusion with out-of-control government agencies to silence speech,” Jordan’s subcommittee says.
“Your question about RFK,” McCarthy said to a reporter. “I disagree with everything he said. The hearing that we have this week is about censorship. I don’t think censuring somebody is actually the answer here,” he said, possibly meaning “censoring.”
“I think if you’re going to look at censorship in America, your first action to censure ’em, probably plays into what some of the problems we have.”
Watch McCarthy’s remarks below or at this link.