Evan Agostini/Invision/AP
- Kerry Kennedy on Monday criticized her brother's recent remarks regarding COVID-19.
- At a Manhattan event, RFK Jr. baselessly suggested that the coronavirus could've been "ethnically targeted."
- He is currently challenging President Joe Biden for the 2024 Democratic presidential nomination.
Kerry Kennedy, the sister of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., denounced the Democratic presidential candidate's recent comments where he baselessly suggested that COVID-19 was "ethnically targeted" to certain races while sparing Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese people.
In a video published by The New York Post of a press event in Manhattan last week, Kennedy said that there was an "argument" that the coronavirus targeted particular groups, a conspiracy theory that drew a slew of outrage in recent days.
"COVID-19 is targeted to attack Caucasians and Black people. The people who are most immune are Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese," Kennedy Jr. said at the event. "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."
"We do know that the Chinese are spending hundreds of millions of dollars developing ethnic bioweapons and we are developing ethnic bioweapons," he continued. "They're collecting Russian DNA. They're collecting Chinese DNA so we can target people by race."
On Monday, Kerry Kennedy chimed in, joining the chorus of opposition to her brother's remarks.
"I strongly condemn my brother's deplorable and untruthful remarks last week about Covid being engineered for ethnic targeting," she said in a statement. "His statements do not represent what I believe or what Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights stand for, with our 50+ year track record of protecting rights and standing against racism and all forms of discrimination."
—Kerry Kennedy (@KerryKennedyRFK) July 17, 2023
Kerry Kennedy, the seventh child of the late Robert F. Kennedy and Ethel Skakel Kennedy, is currently the president of Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights, a nonprofit human rights advocacy organization.
Former Rep. Joe Kennedy III of Massachusetts on Monday also spoke out against Kennedy Jr.'s remarks.
"My uncle's comments were hurtful and wrong. I unequivocally condemn what he said," the ex-congressman tweeted.
For Kennedy Jr. — a longtime environmental attorney who is challenging President Joe Biden for the Democratic nomination — the comments only served to further frustrate party leaders who'd like to focus their energies on the president's potential rematch with former President Donald Trump.
But Kennedy Jr. in recent weeks has been ramping up his campaign, with his most recent comments further attracting attention.
In a video released on Sunday, he sought to clarify his remarks, despite them being recorded on video.
"Nobody has suggested that these were deliberately engineered changes and I certainly don't believe that they were deliberately engineered," he said.