Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a Democratic presidential candidate, at the Celebrate Israel parade on June 4, 2023. Photo by Matthew Litman

By Jacob Kornbluh July 16, 2023

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the political scion and presidential candidate, was condemned Saturday for spewing antisemitism after claiming that COVID-19 was an “ethnically targeted” bioweapon that spared Jews and Chinese people. RFK Jr., the challenger to President Joe Biden for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2024, is a vaccine skeptic who has associated himself with conspiracy theorists. 

In remarks at a recent dinner in New York City and published by the New York Post over the weekend, RFK Jr. claimed that “COVID-19 is targeted to attack Caucasians and Black people” and that “the people who are most immune are Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese.” He further added that it is uncertain whether it was deliberately targeted or not.

Major Jewish groups, including the Anti-Defamation League and the American Jewish Committee, condemned RFK Jr.’s remarks, saying that it fuels antisemitic conspiracy theories related to COVID-19, and stereotypes that falsely claimed Jews protected themselves from diseases.

“Outrageous promulgation of dangerous antisemitic canards by RFK Jr.,” tweeted William Daroff, chief executive of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.

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House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries called it a “disgusting use of a vile antisemitic trope and unhinged xenophobic conspiracy theory” that should be “uniformly condemned.” The Democratic leader from New York said the “dangerous language” used by RFK Jr. “risks fanning the flames of violence against our Jewish and Asian-American brothers and sisters.”

RFK Jr., 69, the son of former U.S Attorney General Robert Kennedy and nephew of the late President John F. Kennedy, later denied he suggested the deadly virus that costs the lives of millions around the world was targeted to spare Jews.

RFK Jr. on Saturday night posted a 30-minute interview with Rabbi Shmuely Boteach to YouTube in which he defended his support for the Jewish community.

RFK Jr. said his comments were “twisted” and “distorted” by the media as “targeted propaganda” to “make people of Jewish descent concerned about my sanity and my thinking.”

After pressing him to clarify his comments, Boteach told RFK Jr. that what “bothered” him about the video published on Saturday was “this perception that you’re antisemitic. I know you’re not and, in fact, I know precisely the opposite is true. I know that in your heart you feel a great closeness to the Jewish people, to the Jewish community and to Israel.” Boteach also criticized the Jewish groups for not framing their statements “in the context of the phenomenal support you’ve shown for our people.”

The outspoken celebrity rabbi recently defended Roseanne Barr after her strange rant about Holocaust denial sparked controversy. He also befriended former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who resigned in 2021 after multiple women accused him of sexual harassment.

The presidential candidate has a history of comparing vaccine and mask mandates to the Holocaust. RFK Jr. and his anti-vaccine group also appear to be followers of a fringe internet streamer known for promoting conspiracy theories about 9/11 and antisemitic claims about the Holocaust.

Another RFK Jr. defender on Saturday was Emily Austin, a Jewish social media influencer who claimed in January that Jews were sent as “sheeps to the slaughter” during the Holocaust because they were “afraid to be vocal and proud of their identity.”

“Being a Jew combatting REAL antisemitism this was not it,” Austin said about RFK Jr.’s remarks. 

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