Saudi Foreign Vice Minister attends inauguration of El Salvador President    Ministry of Interior starts imposing penalties on Hajj rules violators Security officials arrest over 20,000 erring visit visa holders    Saudi Arabia and 7 OPEC+ members extend voluntary production cuts until 2025 2.2 million barrel cut to be phased out monthly until September 2025    Saudi Aramco's $12 billion share sale sells out in hours: Bloomberg    Unleashing the Full Potential of Fintech: Challenges, Opportunities, and a Way Forward    Kuwait Crown Prince takes constitutional oath as Deputy Emir    Cristiano Ronaldo vows Al Nassr will come back stronger after King's Cup heartbreak    Kuwait's emir names Sheikh Sabah Khalid Al Sabah as new crown prince    Makkah Police arrest two for promoting fraudulent Hajj campaign on social media    ZATCA thwarts attempt to smuggle 6.5 million Captagon pills hidden in plus-size tires    Saudi Arabia provides $129 billion in aid to 169 countries since 1996    Saudi Chief of General Staff attends EFES 2024 multinational exercise in Turkiye    Al Hilal clinches King Cup in intense penalty shootout and dramatic final    Crown Prince awards King's Cup to Al Hilal    Yassine Bounou named Man of the Match after leading Al Hilal to King's Cup victory    Aramco acquires 40% stake in Gas & Oil Pakistan    Diriyah Contemporary Art Biennale concludes with massive attendance    Man opens ice cream shop in seaside telephone box    Nepali climber sets record for fastest ascent of Mount Everest by a woman    World's rarest album to go on display in Australia    JK Rowling in 'arrest me' challenge over hate crime law    Trump's Bible endorsement raises concern in Christian religious circles    Hollywood icon Will Smith shares his profound admiration for Holy Qur'an    We have celebrated Founding Day for three years - but it has been with us for 300    Exotic Taif Roses Simulation Performed at Taif Rose Festival    Asian shares mixed Tuesday    Weather Forecast for Tuesday    Saudi Tourism Authority Participates in Arabian Travel Market Exhibition in Dubai    Minister of Industry Announces 50 Investment Opportunities Worth over SAR 96 Billion in Machinery, Equipment Sector    HRH Crown Prince Offers Condolences to Crown Prince of Kuwait on Death of Sheikh Fawaz Salman Abdullah Al-Ali Al-Malek Al-Sabah    HRH Crown Prince Congratulates Santiago Peña on Winning Presidential Election in Paraguay    SDAIA Launches 1st Phase of 'Elevate Program' to Train 1,000 Women on Data, AI    41 Saudi Citizens and 171 Others from Brotherly and Friendly Countries Arrive in Saudi Arabia from Sudan    Saudi Arabia Hosts 1st Meeting of Arab Authorities Controlling Medicines    General Directorate of Narcotics Control Foils Attempt to Smuggle over 5 Million Amphetamine Pills    NAVI Javelins Crowned as Champions of Women's Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) Competitions    Saudi Karate Team Wins Four Medals in World Youth League Championship    Third Edition of FIFA Forward Program Kicks off in Riyadh    Evacuated from Sudan, 187 Nationals from Several Countries Arrive in Jeddah    SPA Documents Thajjud Prayer at Prophet's Mosque in Madinah    SFDA Recommends to Test Blood Sugar at Home Two or Three Hours after Meals    SFDA Offers Various Recommendations for Safe Food Frying    SFDA Provides Five Tips for Using Home Blood Pressure Monitor    SFDA: Instant Soup Contains Large Amounts of Salt    Mawani: New shipping service to connect Jubail Commercial Port to 11 global ports    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Delivers Speech to Pilgrims, Citizens, Residents and Muslims around the World    Sheikh Al-Issa in Arafah's Sermon: Allaah Blessed You by Making It Easy for You to Carry out This Obligation. Thus, Ensure Following the Guidance of Your Prophet    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques addresses citizens and all Muslims on the occasion of the Holy month of Ramadan    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



RFK Jr rebuked over Covid conspiracy theory
Published in The Saudi Gazette on 18 - 07 - 2023

Robert F Kennedy Jr is running for US president as a Democrat, but the unusual backing he is receiving from right-wingers and his history of amplifying conspiracy theories has raised suspicions about his motivations.
Over the weekend, Kennedy doubled down on remarks suggesting Covid-19 may have been "ethnically targeted" to "attack" Caucasians and black people but spare Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese people.
Arguing he had "never implied that the ethnic effect was deliberately engineered", the candidate alleged he was being smeared and cited a study published by the National Institutes of Health looking at how human genetic factors contribute to Covid transmission.
But an author of the study told the BBC's US partner, CBS News, that its findings had "never supported" Mr Kennedy's claims.
"This type of misinterpretation will hurt academic research to help us end the pandemic," the author said in an emailed statement.
It is the latest debunked claim from a lawyer once celebrated as a champion of the environment, who has dedicated his energy in the past two decades to anti-vaccine activism and who last year referred to pandemic health measures as "fascism" not seen "even in Hitler's Germany".
Yet Kennedy, 69, has seen support as high as 21% in national opinion polls since his April launch and is polling even now in the mid-to-high teens despite holding few campaign events.
That suggests some degree of disaffection among Democratic voters with President Joe Biden, who is seeking re-election at 80 years old and with an approval rating of 41%.
It may also have something to do with the challenger's famous last name. He is the nephew of former President John F Kennedy and the third child of former Attorney General Robert F Kennedy.
Democratic strategist Kevin Walling told the BBC that Mr Kennedy's poll numbers are "a combination of nostalgia for the Kennedy family and brand, as well as a lack of awareness about [his] views".
He argued the support is peeling away "as more and more Democrats learn about his views on a whole host of issues".
The Biden camp has largely ignored their long-shot rival, but White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Monday said Kennedy's comments on ethnic targeting were "vile and they put our fellow Americans in danger".
Other members of the Democratic Party also distanced themselves from the remarks, describing them as antisemitic and anti-Asian.
Members of the Kennedy family have for years rebuked Kennedy's public statements.
"I strongly condemn my brother's deplorable and untruthful remarks last week about Covid being engineered for ethnic targeting," his sister Kerry wrote on Monday.
Further compounding misgivings about the rebel Kennedy is that he is unusually close with the Trump wing of the Republican Party.
In recent years, he has appeared at events pushing false claims about the 2020 election and downplaying the January 2021 attack on the US Capitol.
CBS reported in April that former Trump advisor Steve Bannon had encouraged Mr Kennedy to run "for months, believing he could be both a useful chaos agent in the 2024 race and a big name who could help stoke anti-vaccine sentiment around the country".
Donald Trump himself praised Kennedy last month, as "a very smart guy and a good guy", while Roger Stone, a prominent Trump ally, has repeatedly promoted the idea that they run on the same ticket.
The Kennedy campaign has also received extensive friendly coverage on Fox News and other right-wing media outlets.
According to documents filed with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) on Saturday, donors who typically give to Republicans count among its top contributors so far.
"Only 20% of his donors identify as Democratic donors, while nearly 40% have a track record of giving more to [Republican] candidates and causes," said Mr Walling, citing analysis of the FEC filing by the left-leaning Popular Information newsletter.
"It's clear Republicans are supporting Kennedy in order to try and hurt President Biden in advance of the general election."
Kennedy's fundraising numbers over the past three months - $6.3m (£4.8m) - outpace several of the president's would-be Republican challengers, but is dwarfed by Mr Biden's $72m haul over the same period.
"At the end of the day, he's not going to deny Biden the [Democratic] nomination nor is he going to be a significant threat," said Mark Longabaugh, another Democratic strategist.
"It's just a gadfly candidacy making a lot of noise and I guess he settled on a strategy of figuring out the most outrageous things he can say to continue to get attention."
He said the most chaos Kennedy's candidacy may cause will likely be in New Hampshire.
The northeastern state has long played host to the first primary contest of the presidential election season - until Democrats rearranged the calendar earlier this year at Biden's direction.
But New Hampshire Democrats have threatened to hold their first-in-the-nation primary anyway, even if Biden sits it out, which could provide an opening for Kennedy to get on the board.
Some older voters in the New England region once dominated by the Kennedys may still be enamored with the dynasty, Longabaugh said, but voters will ultimately be turned off by Kennedy's views and the support he receives from Republicans.
"It's unfortunate," he said. "There was a time, 20 to 25 years ago, when Kennedy was a very admirable person." — BBC


Clic here to read the story from its source.