In an array of rather eyebrow-raising choices for his Cabinet and White House staff, President-elect Donald Trump has picked former presidential race rival Robert F. Kennedy Jr., aka RFK Jr., as the Health Secretary—the same man who once claimed COVID was “ethnically targeted” to spare Ashkenazi Jews and the Chinese population.
Knewz.com has learned that the outspoken anti-vaxxer made the claims during a press event in July 2023, while he was still running for Office.
The press dinner at the Italian restaurant Tony’s Di Napoli on the Upper East Side of New York had been described by reports at the time as “a foul bout of screaming and polemic farting.”
During the Q&A session of the press event, RFK Jr. was quoted as saying, “COVID-19. There is an argument that it is ethnically targeted. COVID-19 attacks certain races disproportionately.”
“COVID-19 is targeted to attack Caucasians and black people. The people who are most immune are Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese,” the then-independent presidential candidate added in his statement.
“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,” he further stated.
According to reports, the idea that COVID-19 was a man-made biological weapon that “escaped” from a lab in China has been considered by intelligence agencies in the United States. However, there has never been any evidence to support the theory that it was genetically designed to spare certain communities.
It has been pointed out that RFK Jr.’s claims echo a popular antisemitic rhetoric that held the Jews responsible for the spread of coronavirus. An Oxford University study from 2020 found that one in five people in the United Kingdom believed the Jews created the COVID pandemic for financial gain.
Notably, the vaccine skeptic Health Secretary pick had also suggested back in 2020 that the COVID vaccine was “genetically modified to attack black and Latino boys.”
During the press dinner at the New York Upper East Side restaurant, the then-presidential hopeful further claimed that China was in the process of developing biological weapons with a “50% infection fatality rate” that would make COVID-19 “look like a walk in the park.”
“We do know that the Chinese are spending hundreds of millions of dollars developing ethnic bioweapons and we are developing ethnic bioweapons,” RFK Jr. said at the time.
“They’re collecting Russian DNA. They’re collecting Chinese DNA so we can target people by race,” he added.
It is worth noting that, RFk Jr. was recently nominated by President-elect Trump—a decision that, like other nominations he has put forward, has raised some eyebrows and invited criticism.
According to reports, Georges C Benjamin, the executive director of the American Public Health Association (APHA), said that his organization will “absolutely oppose” the nomination, adding that RFK Jr. is “absolutely the wrong guy for it.”
“He is not competent by training, management skills, temperament or trust to have this job. He’s just absolutely the wrong guy for it,” Benjamin said in a statement after the announcement.
“He is really just a person without a health background who’s already caused great damage in health in the country,” he added.
Benjamin also pointed out the Health Secretary nominee’s skepticism regarding the effectiveness and safety of vaccines, and said, “We’re going advocate as loudly and as often as we can to make sure that people know what a risk he is to the public and to the public’s health.”
Trump’s decision to nominate Fox News host Pete Hegseth as the Secretary of Defense, therefore replacing retired four-star General Lloyd J. Austin, has also been received with a certain amount of criticism and concern—given the historically strenuous relationship between Trump and the U.S. military.
Reports noted that Trump chose Hegseth over several noted national security officials who have proven their worth in their respective positions, while Hegseth has been described as “largely inexperienced and untested on the global stage.”
Paul Rieckhoff, an Iraq War veteran and founder of the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America Association, commented on Trump’s Defense Secretary nomination on social media, saying:
“I first met Hegseth when he started running Vets for Freedom around 2007. He is a highly effective and ferocious media, culture, and political warrior for MAGA. And beyond loyal to and trusted by Trump.”
Washington Representative Adam Smith, the Democratic leader of the House Armed Services Committee, said in a statement following Trump’s announcement of the nominee, “There is reason for concern that this is not a person who is a serious enough policymaker, serious enough policy implementer, to do a successful job.”
Along with his reported “inexperience,” Hegseth’s ideology is potentially cause for concern as well—since he has repeatedly claimed that he is against “woke” programs that promote equity and inclusion.
It is worth noting that Hegseth has reportedly questioned the appointment of women in active military combat and has also called for pardoning military personnel accused and charged with war crimes.
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