Citing antisemitism and bigotry, Jewish and Asian Democrats call on Republicans to disinvite RFK Jr. from testifying

Republicans declined the request to uninvited Kennedy

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. departs after speaking at the Lincoln Memorial to a rally against vaccine mandates in Washington, D.C., Jan. 23, 2022. (Stefani Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images)

By Ron Kampeas July 19, 2023

WASHINGTON (JTA) — Two Jewish Democrats joined with a Chinese American congresswoman in leading a call on Republicans to disinvite Robert F. Kennedy Jr. from testifying in Congress about censorship, after the Democratic presidential candidate said COVID-19 was “ethnically targeted” to spare Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese.

“Mr. Kennedy has repeatedly and recently spread vile and dangerous antisemitic and anti-Asian conspiracy theories that tarnish his credibility as a witness and must not be legitimized with his appearance before the U.S. Congress nor given the platform of an official committee hearing to spread his baseless and discriminatory views,” said the letter sent Tuesday to Reps. Kevin McCarthy of California, the U.S. House of Representatives Speaker and Jim Jordan of Ohio, the chairman of the Judiciary Committee.

The letter, signed by 102 Democrats, was initiated by Reps. Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida and Dan Goldman of New York, who are Jewish, and Judy Chu of California, who is Chinese American.

McCarthy and Jordan, who invited Kennedy to testify at the subcommittee Jordan created to examine the alleged “weaponization” of government, declined to disinvite him.

Kennedy, a vaccine denialist, drew fire when it was revealed that he said last week that the coronavirus was “targeted to attack Caucasians and Black people.”

“The people who are most immune are Ashkenazic Jews and Chinese,” he said. “We don’t know whether it was deliberately targeted or not, but there are papers out there that show the racial and ethnic differential of impact.”

The claim is baseless and has been derided by scientists.

Kennedy has since defended his remarks, noting that he said he did not know if “targeting” was deliberate, which he believes undercuts his critics’ claims that he was playing into antisemitic and anti-Asian tropes. Kennedy is mounting a long-shot primary challenge against President Joe Biden.

McCarthy said it was inappropriate to censor a witness who was appearing before the weaponization subcommittee to discuss allegations that the government censored his vaccine-critical views.

At the same appearance with reporters, McCarthy called on Democrats to control progressives who he said are antisemitic, a reference to Washington Rep. Pramila Jayapal, who over the weekend said Israel was a “racist state.” She later walked back the statement.

“They should take action against their own,” McCarthy said of the Democratic Party.

The House on Tuesday overwhelmingly passed a resolution saying that Israel was not racist and condemning antisemitism.

This article originally appeared on JTA.org.

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