Robert F. Kennedy Jr. baselessly claims COVID-19 was 'ethnically targeted' to spare Jews and Chinese people, report says

• Robert F. Kennedy Jr. baselessly claimed COVID-19 may have been "ethnically targeted" to spare certain groups.
• He said Caucasians and black people were most susceptible, and Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese people were most immune.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. baselessly claimed that COVID-19 may have been "ethnically targeted" to spare Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese people.

The long-time vaccine skeptic and conspiracy theorist, who is running for president as a Democratic primary challenger, made the comments during a press event in New York City on Tuesday, per The New York Post.

"COVID-19, there is an argument that it is ethnically targeted. COVID-19 attacks certain races disproportionately," Kennedy said.

"COVID-19 is targeted to attack Caucasians and black people. The people who are most immune are Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese."

"We don't know whether it was deliberately targeted or not, but there are papers out there that show the racial and ethnic differential and impact," Kennedy claimed but did not cite any specific sources.

He further claimed that China was spending hundreds of millions of dollars developing "ethnic bioweapons," and said the US was also developing similar weapons.

The origins of COVID-19 are still unknown, with one hotly contested theory being that the virus might have escaped from a laboratory in Wuhan, China. Whether or not that theory is correct, there is no known evidence suggesting the virus was made to target specific ethnicities.

Kennedy built a reputation as a prominent anti-vaxxer long before the pandemic, but his impact reached new heights when the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020.

One report identified him as being one of 12 people who were responsible for the spread of most disinformation about COVID-19 online.

He has also baselessly promoted a range of conspiracy theories, including that Wi-Fi causes cancer and that antidepressants are to blame for school shootings.

Members of the Kennedy dynasty previously told Insider that they would not support Kennedy's long-shot bid presidential campaign due to his anti-vaccine views.

The Anti-Defamation League responded to Kennedy's claims about COVID-19 being ethnically targeted in a statement to The Post.

"The claim that COVID-19 was a bioweapon created by the Chinese or Jews to attack Caucasians and black people is deeply offensive and feeds into sinophobic and anti-semitic conspiracy theories about COVID-19 that we have seen evolve over the last three years," they said.