Controversy Erupts Over RFK Jr.'s Claims of COVID-19 Being 'Ethnically Targeted'

Jewish groups have condemned Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s false remarks claiming that Covid-19 was "ethnically targeted" to spare Jews and Chinese people. Kennedy made the comments at a dinner in New York City, stating that Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese individuals are the most immune to the virus. The American Jewish Committee and the Anti-Defamation League criticized his remarks, calling them offensive and contributing to the rise of antisemitism. Kennedy later clarified that he was referring to a study on ethnically targeted bioweapons, but the event's organizer stated that it was on the record. Disproportionate rates of Covid-19 illness and death among different demographics are attributed to racial disparities, not genetics. Kennedy, a vaccine skeptic, has promoted various health-related conspiracy theories in the past.