Robert F. Kennedy Jr. denies saying COVID was engineered to "spare Jews" 

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President Trump’s nominee for U.S. Health Secretary, forcefully denied accusations regarding past comments on COVID-19 during a heated Senate confirmation hearing.

The former Democrat-turned-Trump ally faced questioning from Sen. Michael Bennet of Colorado over allegations that he made antisemitic remarks about the virus while running for president.

A 2023 video published by the New York Post showed Kennedy discussing “bioweapons” at a private Q&A session, where he spoke about “ethnically targeted microbes” allegedly being developed by both the U.S. and China.

“In fact, there is an argument that COVID-19 is ethnically targeted. COVID-19 attacks certain races disproportionately,” Kennedy said in the video. “COVID-19 is targeted to attack Caucasians and Black people. The people who are most immune are Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese [people]. We don’t know whether it was deliberately targeted like that or not… we do know that the Chinese are spending hundreds of millions of dollars developing ethnic bioweapons.”

The remarks sparked backlash from Jewish organizations, which accused Kennedy of suggesting that the virus may have been engineered to spare Jewish people.

In response, Kennedy denied ever saying the disease was “deliberately targeted” and insisted he was citing an “NIH-funded and NIH-published study,” referring to the National Institutes of Health.

Pressed again on whether he believed COVID-19 targeted specific ethnicities, he reiterated that he had merely referenced NIH research.

It remains unclear which study Kennedy was referring to at the time.

The Jewish Chronicle contributed to this article.