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Fresh controversy Thursday morning After claiming that Covid-19 was “racially targeted” toward certain races, presidential candidate Robert Kennedy Jr. testified before the House Select Subcommittee on arming the federal government.
Earlier this week, more than 100 Democrats submitted a letter to the Judiciary Committee, which called for Kennedy’s exclusion from the hearing. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy himself said he didn’t agree with everything [Kennedy] “But excluding him would undermine the very theme of the meeting: censorship,” he said.
Even some conservatives were skeptical about how effective Kennedy would be in taking the witness stand. Byron York, Fox contributor underscore Having RFK Jr. At a hearing on the “dangerous” topic of technology surveillance would derail proceedings because “he has a long history of reckless statements about vaccines and stuff, he’s a great conspiracy theorist.”
And derailed. Kennedy’s presence completely dominated the session, and hostility was between the Republican and Democratic members of the committee. palpable throughout. In her opening remarks, ratings panelist Stacey E said, “Hateful and offensive rhetoric need not be encouraged in homes.”
“Why are the Republican leadership and majority committees listening and testifying today? Specifically to Mr. Kennedy, the man who recently claimed that Covid-19 was intended to attack Caucasians and Black people, [and that] The most immune people are Ashkenazi Jews and the Chinese. And before that in his movie Medical Racism: The New ApartheidThis movie said that Covid-19 vaccines don’t work for black children because, in quotes, “some kind of immune system, this hyper-human type.” Plaskett asked.
She added, “He also said that even in Hitler’s Germany you could cross the Alps into Switzerland, which meant that Jews in Nazi Germany enjoyed more freedoms than unvaccinated Americans during the COVID-19 pandemic.”
In his opening remarks to the committee, Kennedy lamented what he saw as the unnecessary suppression of his views. Kennedy rejected the notion that his claims about vaccines were misinformation and argued that he was in no way racist or anti-Semitic.
He said, “Although I swear under oath — I have never in my life uttered a racist or anti-Semitic remark.” I spent my life fighting, my career fighting for Israel, protecting Israel. I have a better record in Israel than anyone in this room today. »
Kennedy’s career machinations about vaccines figured prominently during the hearing, particularly his recent comments about race-based targeting.
In one instance, Kennedy fought directly with the Democratic committee members. Kennedy said, “Practically every statement you make about me is inaccurate.” I have never been against purges. I never told the public to avoid vaccination. »
Kennedy touted the fact that he and his children had been vaccinated as evidence of his supposed pro-vaccine stance, insisting that he was merely an advocate for vaccine safety. When Kennedy’s claims about vaccines are evaluated, the defense falls a bit short.
He’s repeatedly insisted that vaccines can cause autism (they can’t), claimed that vaccine research was responsible for creating diseases like HIV, Spanish flu, and Lyme disease (it didn’t), and recently suggested that some organizations promoting vaccines should succumb to it.o “corporate death penalty”, They compared people opposed to vaccination to Jews fleeing Nazi Germany.
This is just a sample.
Kennedy likened his criticism and beliefs to the offensive tactics employed by the McCarthyite Red Horror in the 1940s and 1950s. A tactic we all thought had been discredited. » [the] Andy McCarthy’s audience in the 1950s.
In addition to Kennedy, the commission interviewed three other witnesses by: Emma Jo Morris, political editor for right-wing Breitbart outlet; John Sawyer, Special Assistant Attorney General in the Louisiana Department of Justice; Dr. and Maya Wylie, attorney and civil rights activist.
During her testimony, Wiley spoke out about the racial stereotypes that drive medical misinformation about black Americans, including Kennedy’s statements. It “encompasses all kinds of myths about being able to ignore both health needs and health conditions and disparities that exist between black people and black communities. It harms not only black health but also public health, by not taking the right attitudes.”
pamphlet Echo of feelings. Even knowing what they knew of Kennedy’s hateful and baseless rhetoric, and though they called a number of witnesses to prove their point, [Speaker] She said McCarthy and Jordan chose positively to give that platform. They signed fanatical stupid letters. »
