Republicans gave Democratic candidate claiming « censorship » a national stage. It didn’t go well.
House Democrats on Thursday hammered Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a. notorious vaccine conspiracy theorist and Democratic presidential candidate boosted by numerous Trump allies, during his testimony before the so-called House Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government,
Appearing before the Jim Jordan-led panel, Kennedy denied that he is racist, Sinophobic or antisemitic after comments leaked over the weekend in which he appeared to cite a conspiracy theory that the coronavirus was « targeted to » certain ethnicities while Chinese people and Ashkenazi Jews had more immunity.
Kennedy defended himself, saying that « in [his] entire life, » he had never « uttered a phrase that was either racist or anti-semitic. »
« I have spent my life fighting, my professional career fighting for Israel, for the protection of Israel, » Kennedy continued, conflating the state and government of Israel with all Jewish people.
« I have a better record on Israel than anybody in this chamber today, » he claimed before accusing the Biden administration of launching a « genocidal program » in making a $2 billion payout to Iran.
« I’m the only one who’s objected to that, » Kennedy continued. « I’ve fought more ferociously for Israel than anybody, but I am being censored here. Through this target, through smears, through misinterpretations of what I’ve said. »
Kennedy also insisted that he was not against vaccinations despite having previously peddled a range of conspiracy theories and misinformation on public health issues.
« I’m subjected to this new form of censorship, » he claimed at the televised hearing, « which is called targeted propaganda, where people apply pejoratives like ‘anti-vax.’ I’ve never been anti-vaccine. But everybody in this room probably believes that I have been because that’s the prevailing narrative. »
The environmental lawyer and author’s testimony before the committee followed 102 Democrats signing a letter earlier this week opposing his appearance over the comments recorded on video and released by the New York Post on Saturday.
In the video, which the outlet said was made during a press dinner in New York City last week, Kennedy can be heard spewing a series of false and misleading claims, including, « We don’t know whether it [COVID-19] was deliberately targeted or not, but there are papers out there that show the racial or ethnic differential and impact. »
« There is an argument that it is ethnically targeted, » specifically against Caucasian and Black people, Kennedy is heard saying.
Health officials around the world have determined that the COVID-19 pandemic disproportionately killed some groups of people not because of their race but because of underlying health inequities often linked to racial discrimination.
During his testimony, Kennedy also alleged that Democrats were trying to censor him based on his views.
« ‘I’ve spent my life in this party. I’ve devoted my life to the values of this party, » he said. « This — 102 people signed this. This itself is evidence of the problem that this hearing was convened to address.
