RFK Jr. Denies Antisemitism in New COVID Remarks

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. finds himself in more political controversy this weekend, accused of bigotry over comments he made while discussing the COVID-19 virus at a dinner in New York City this week. The New York Post published videotape of the dinner. Coverage:

• What he said: "COVID-19. There is an argument that it is ethnically targeted. COVID-19 attacks certain races disproportionately," said the Democratic candidate for president. "COVID-19 is targeted to attack Caucasians and Black people. The people who are most immune are Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese." He added: "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." This tweeted video has his remarks in full.

• Denial: Based on those comments, the New York Post reported that Kennedy had floated the idea that COVID was a "genetically engineered bioweapon" designed to spare Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese people. Kennedy, a longtime vaccine skeptic, rejected that in a tweet. "I have never, ever suggested that the COVID-19 virus was targeted to spare Jews," he wrote. Kennedy said he was stating his belief that the US and other governments were creating "ethnically targeted bioweapons," citing a 2021 study on the virus' genetic susceptibility that he says is a "proof of concept" that such weapons were plausible, per Politico.
• A problem: As the New York Times points out, the study referenced by Kennedy to back up his claim makes no mention of Ashkenazi Jews, and the newspaper talks to scientists who dismissed the comments as nonsense. "Jewish or Chinese protease consensus sequences are not a thing in biochemistry, but they are in racism and antisemitism," said virologist Angela Rasmussen of the University of Saskatchewan.
• More context: The Times' Jonathan Weisman adds this context: "The idea that Ashkenazi Jews are somehow separate from Caucasians has fueled deadly bigotry for centuries, and the conspiracy of Jewish immunity from tragedy has been part of antisemitic attacks as far back as the Black Plague and as recently as the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001."
• Backlash: CNN notes that Ashkenazi Jews represent a majority of the nation's Jewish population, given that they trace their roots back to Central and Eastern Europe. Kennedy's "assertion that (COVID) was genetically engineered to spare Jewish and Chinese people is deeply offensive and incredibly dangerous," says the American Jewish Committee in a statement to the outlet. "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."
• Backlash, II: "The claim that (COVID) was a bioweapon created by the Chinese or Jews to attack Caucasians and Black people is deeply offensive and feeds into Sinophobic and antisemitic conspiracy theories," Jake Hyman of the Anti-Defamation League tells the Washington Post. And Jane Shim of the Stop Asian Hate Project voiced a similar view. "While RFK spitballs his baseless claims, leaning into them when beneficial and distancing himself when harmful to his campaign, Asian Americans will be harmed."
• The dinner: Kennedy in his tweet claimed the Tuesday night dinner was off the record, though organizer Doug Dechert says it was most definitely was not. The dinner previously made headlines because of a "war of words and farting" between Dechert and another guest, as PageSix colorfully described.

(Kennedy is married to actress Cheryl Hines, who has previously distanced herself from his various conspiracy theories.)