RFK Jr. Faces Backlash Over Anti-Arab Campaign Remarks
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. drew widespread condemnation after claiming Arabs do not produce science or literature during a Republican campaign event in Michigan.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. faced widespread condemnation after claiming during a Republican campaign event in Grand Rapids, Michigan, that the world's 500 million Arabs do not produce science or literature and do not win prestigious awards such as the Nobel, Fields, or Wolf Prizes. Kennedy attributed this perceived lack of contribution to the ideology of the Muslim Brotherhood, which he argued destroyed traditional progress to create stagnant societies.
Critics and fact-checkers refuted the claims as false and racially biased, citing Arab Nobel laureates in chemistry, literature, and peace. The Council on American-Islamic Relations described the remarks as a textbook display of racism, while former CDC official Nirav Shah characterized the comments as an attempt to denigrate non-Western people.
The controversy occurred while Kennedy was campaigning for Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers. The remarks align with a broader campaign by Rogers and President Donald Trump to link Democratic opponent Abdul El-Sayed to the Muslim Brotherhood. El-Sayed has disavowed these ties, calling the accusations Islamophobic. Senator Chris Murphy characterized the Health Secretary's comments as part of a coordinated effort to delegitimize Muslim Americans.
