Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s COVID-19 comments blasted as ‘vile,’ ‘racist’

Fellow Democrats, civil rights advocates and even members of his own family are excoriating presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. after he floated a conspiracy theory over the weekend that COVID-19 is “ethnically targeted” to disproportionately attack white and Black people while Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese people are most immune.

The New York Post, which obtained video of Kennedy’s remarks, made during an event in New York, was the first to report on the comments.  

“COVID-19 — there is an argument that it is ethnically targeted,” Kennedy said. “COVID-19 attacks certain races disproportionately. COVID-19 is targeted to attack Caucasians and Black people. The people who are most immune are Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese.”

Kennedy made the comments while claiming the United States and China are spending hundreds of millions of dollars to develop biological weapons that target certain ethnic groups. 

His comments quickly received widespread backlash inside and outside the political world, with many labeling them antisemitic and racist.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre called the claims “false” and “vile.”

Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., tweeted: “Vile antisemitic tropes and Sinophobia in RFK, Jr’s mouth diarrhea here. Insulted countless families who lost loved ones to the virus.”

She added, “This Ashkenazi Jew and her family got COVID.”

Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Calif., who was born in Taiwan, wrote on Twitter, “Millions and millions of people died from COVID-19 worldwide, including Americans who were Jewish or of Chinese descent.”

“If you still support the wacky, narcissistic, racist Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., then that says more about you than it does about him,” Lieu continued.

Ted Deutch, CEO of the American Jewish Committee, said every aspect of Kennedy’s comments “reflects some of the most abhorrent antisemitic conspiracy theories throughout history and contributes to today’s dangerous rise of antisemitism.”

Manjusha P. Kulkarni, co-founder of Stop AAPI Hate and executive director of AAPI Equity Alliance, told CBS News the organizations condemn Kennedy’s “reckless, harmful remarks.”

“Dangerous rhetoric rooted in misinformation and bigotry must not be normalized. As the 2024 election cycle ramps up, Asian American communities are rightfully concerned politicians will continue to double down on anti-Asian rhetoric to rile up their base,” she said.

Three of Kennedy’s relatives — sister Kerry, brother Joseph II and nephew Joseph III — all publicly denounced the remarks.

“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.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., 69, is the son of former U.S. Sen. Robert F. Kennedy and the nephew of former President John F. Kennedy. A former environmental lawyer, RFK Jr. has built a reputation as an anti-vaccine activist, often spreading debunked conspiracy theories.

His views predate the COVID-19 pandemic — he has long alleged vaccines caused autism, a claim soundly rejected by medical experts. But he grew more vocal during the pandemic. 

On Twitter, Kennedy called the Post’s article a “disgusting fabrication” of what he said, and he denied the comments were antisemitic. 

He claimed he was quoting a peer-reviewed paper that examined genetic susceptibility of COVID-19. The paper he linked to in his tweet, however, was published in July 2020, in the early months of the pandemic, and makes no reference to the virus “targeting” certain demographics. 

CBS News reported that one of the paper’s authors told the network the study “never supported” what Kennedy claimed.

Angela Rasmussen, a virologist and adjunct professor at the University of Saskatchewan, tweeted: “Jewish or Chinese protease consensus sequences are not a thing in biochemistry, but they are in racism and antisemitism.”

Kennedy, whose Children’s Health Defense had its Facebook and Instagram accounts banned last year for spreading medical misinformation, is scheduled to testify Thursday before the House Judiciary Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government.

A group of more than 100 House Democrats on Tuesday urged House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., and committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, to disinvite Kennedy.

“Mr. Kennedy has repeatedly and recently spread vile and dangerous antisemitic and anti-Asian conspiracy theories that tarnish his credibility as a witness and must not be legitimized with his appearance before the U.S. Congress nor given the platform of an official committee hearing to spread his baseless and discriminatory views,” the Democrats wrote in a letter. 

McCarthy told reporters Monday he disagrees with “everything” Kennedy said, but added: “The hearing that we have this week is about censorship. I don’t think censoring somebody is actually the answer here.”