White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre strongly denounced Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s recent comments on COVID-19, labeling them as "vile" and a threat to public safety. Kennedy Jr. suggested the virus was genetically engineered to spare certain ethnic groups, a claim Jean-Pierre refuted as false and dangerous.
During a press briefing, Jean-Pierre addressed a reporter's question about Kennedy Jr.'s place in the Democratic Party, emphasizing the harmful nature of his remarks. She highlighted the racist and anti-Semitic undertones of such conspiracy theories, stressing they pose a direct threat to fellow Americans. Jean-Pierre underscored the administration's commitment to countering such rhetoric.
Kennedy Jr.'s comments, initially reported by The New York Post, stemmed from a dinner in New York City. He speculated on the virus's disproportionate impact on different racial groups, citing the existence of research papers exploring this phenomenon. He stopped short of claiming deliberate targeting but suggested COVID-19 seemed to affect certain races more severely.
Jean-Pierre emphasized the importance of acknowledging the widespread loss of life due to the pandemic and quoted the American Jewish Committee's condemnation of Kennedy Jr.'s remarks as deeply offensive and dangerous. She reiterated the administration's stance against such abhorrent anti-Semitic conspiracy theories, particularly in light of the concerning rise in anti-Semitism.
Furthermore, according to The Post, Kennedy Jr. also alleged that China and the U.S. are investing heavily in developing ethnically targeted bioweapons. Following the report, Kennedy Jr. took to social media, disputing the Post's account and sharing a study on the racial disparities in COVID-19's impact. He clarified that his point was to highlight the potential for ethnically targeted bioweapons, using COVID-19 research as a demonstration of the concept, and denied implying deliberate engineering of the virus's effects.
Kennedy Jr.'s campaign did not respond to requests for comment.
