NY Times misrepresents RFK Jr’s statements, labels him ‘conspiracy theorist’ and ‘bigot’
NY Times attempts to discredit RFK Jr. The accusations parrot similar reports, many of which suggest he's a right-wing conspiracy theorist, drug abuser, Russian sympathizer, and a bigot.
NY Times framing of RFK Jr quote is misleading
Robert F Kennedy Jr publicly scrutinized a NY Post article on Twitter, which seemingly misrepresented statements he made at a private gathering he attended in New York. The article insinuates his remarks are anti-Semitic. A change to the headline now states RFK Jr “airs a bigoted New Covid Conspiracy Theory About Jews and Chinese.”
How does the author justify claiming he’s not only a conspiracy theorist, but a bigot as well? He misrepresents the statements RFK made, omits critical portions of the quote, and ignores a plethora of evidence to support RFK's concerns.
It seems many reporters who are critical of him tend to embellish the things he says. Simply by characterizing his words and intent - which is to conduct further research in areas that are lacking - as adherence to wild conspiracy theories, they do substantial damage to the public’s perception of him. The way this author ensured the misrepresented statements were surrounded with four paragraphs trying to convince people nothing he says should be taken seriously, is very telling.
Contextually, we know these tactics have been deployed by government agencies, politicians, and the private sector in collusion with government entities. Is there reason to believe these same players are continuing to use their well established censorship networks to pre-bunk, debunk, fact check, discredit and malign a presidential candidate? The answer should be no, as that could be actionable under election interference laws. However, I would not be giving the benefit of the doubt considering prior actions taken to censor RFK Jr, as documented in the Twitter files and the Missouri v Biden censorship lawsuit.
Below is the title, header, and quote as the author transcribed it.
NOTE:
While writing this piece, NY Times authorized a change of title which now reads...
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Airs Bigoted New Covid Conspiracy Theory About Jews and Chinese
The original title will remain in the pulled quote for contextual purposes
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Covid Remarks Raise Questions of Antisemitism
The long-shot candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination has a history of embracing conspiracy theories. His latest comments claimed the virus spared certain ethnic and religious groups.
July 15, 2023
“Covid-19. There is an argument that it is ethnically targeted. Covid-19 attacks certain races disproportionately,” Mr. Kennedy said at a private gathering in New York that was captured on videotape by The New York Post. “Covid-19 is targeted to attack Caucasians and Black people. The people who are most immune are Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese.”
-NY Times
This characterization by the NY Times journalist, Jonathan Weismanis, is misleading. His interpretation and framing are not representative of what RFK Jr actually said. Here is a link to the NY POST article containing the video embed that the NY Times misrepresented.
posted an article written by John Leake. In it, he includes the full quote by RFK Jr that elicited the op-ed that sparked the controversy. This statement was captured on tape, and then subsequently reduced down in the article that NY Times published.We need to talk about bioweapons. …. We have spent hundreds of millions of dollars into ethnically targeted microbes. The Chinese have done the same thing. In fact, COVID-19, there is an argument that it is ethnically targeted. COVID-19 attacks certain races disproportionately. The races that are most immune to COVID-19 are—because of the genetic structure, the genetic differentials among different races, of the receptors, of the ACE-2 receptors—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 if it was deliberately targeted or not, but there are papers out there that show the racial and ethnic differential impact of that. We do know that the Chinese are spending hundreds of millions of dollars developing ethnic bioweapons, and we are developing ethnic bioweapons. That’s what all of those labs in the Ukraine are about. They are collecting Russian DNA so that we can target people by race.
The umbrella of doubt cast by these reporters is enough to discredit anything he says. There's a certain level of fear-mongering infused into the attempts to discredit. It plays on your emotions in ways that are best described in Orwellian terms. If the “News Guard Certified” outlets can justify their labeling or characterizations, repeat them constantly, dehumanize their target, and strike fear paired with anger in the hearts of their viewers, it's likely their “victims” will face irreparable damage to their reputation.
Without a doubt, there are justified criticisms of every presidential candidate. The purpose for covering this topic was not to shill for RFK Jr. Instead, it's a reminder for readers that information warfare is the style of war being waged. If you take one headline or article at face value without cross-referencing multiple sources, and fail to research the topics in question, you will likely be misinformed.
Are RFK Jr’s claims unfounded?
In a long form Twitter post by RFK Jr contests the “insinuations” by NY Post and others that he is anti-Semitic because he cited the findings of peer-reviewed scientific research stating:
The insinuation by @nypost and others that, as as result of my quoting a peer-reviewed paper on bio-weapons, I am somehow antisemitic, is a disgusting fabrication. I understand the emotional pain that these inaccurate distortions and fabrications have caused to many Jews who recall the blood libels of poison wells and the deliberate spread of disease as the pretext for genocidal programs against their ancestors. My father and my uncles, John F. Kennedy and Senator Edward Kennedy, devoted enormous political energies during their careers to supporting Israel and fighting antisemitism. I intend to spend my political career making those family causes my priority.
I will fight relentlessly alongside my Jewish brothers and sisters and friends against Jew-hatred and the demonization of Israel. I have just recorded an interview with @RabbiShmuley , whom the same New York Post just this month called, “the most famous Rabbi in America.” I have called upon the Biden Administration not to consummate a second Iran deal that would give that genocidal government a legitimized nuclear program. In the same interview, I called upon the Democratic Party to return to the strong, unconditional support of Israel that was the hallmark of the party under the leadership of my uncle and my father.
Today I had a great conversation with Rabbi Shmuley on Judaism and anti-Semitism. He had this to say: “Two things bothered me about the reports I had read about what you had said at that dinner on the upper east side. I said number one, again, this perception that you’re anti-Semitic. I know you’re not. And in fact, I know precisely the opposite is true. I know that in your heart you feel a great closeness to the Jewish people, to the Jewish community, and to Israel. And the second thing that bothered me is, that you’re being portrayed as you said before, a crank, as a loony toon…but you’re brilliant. You know your facts.”
If one person claims something — especially if you found it on the internet — it must be true, correct?
I kid...
RFK Jr has NOT proven HIMSELF to be a baseless disseminator of conspiracy theories and misinformation. Whether he is incorrect is a matter for the experts to hash out. However, not only is there past research that supports his thesis, there are now a string of more recent studies that back his assertions.
I do not know whether RFK Jr is correct in his assertions. I am not a scientist, as I always like to say when I lack the knowledge or set of skills required to make claims. However, I do know that there is more evidence to back RFK Jr's statements than there is for the NY Times reporter.
The author who wrote the RFK Jr hit piece, failed to uphold his duty as a journalist to inform his readers in a truthful and ethical manner.
Here is a list of studies that support the thesis that it's plausible for viruses to be engineered in an ethnically targeted manner.
A quick Google search for Ethnic Susceptibility to COVID-19 ACE-2 Receptor yielded 504,000 results. At the top of the list was the 2022 paper SARS-CoV-2 Susceptibility and ACE2 Gene Variations Within Diverse Ethnic Backgrounds.
During infection, the S protein is cleaved into subunits, S1 and S2. S1 contains the receptor-binding domain (RBD), which allows the virus to directly bind to the peptidase domain of ACE2, while S2 is responsible for membrane fusion upon viral infection (Lan et al., 2020; Zhang and Holmes, 2020). Thus, coding variants within ACE2 could potentially alter SARS-CoV-2 binding and possible infection responses in different individuals based on host genetics. Host genetics are important in susceptibility to other viral infectious diseases, including SARS-CoV, HIV and influenza (Wang et al., 2020a)
Could you make an ethnically targeted weapon?
-The Guardian (David Adam
Thu 28 Oct 2004)
The report says the combination of human genome studies, the development of vectors capable of introducing harmful material to cells and new ways to disrupt genes should raise concerns about potential misuse.
Malcolm Dando, professor of peace studies at Bradford University and author of the BMA report, says: "The problem is that the same technology being developed to create new vaccines and find cures for Alzheimer's and other debilitating diseases could also be used for malign purposes."
The BMA, which dismissed the idea of genetic weapons in a 1999 report (Biotechnology, Weapons and Humanity I), has lifted its new concerns from the work of a German group called the Sunshine Project.
It looked at how mutations in our genome called single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) differ between specific ethnic groups and concluded: "Genome data in public databases revealed that hundreds, possibly thousands, of target sequences for ethnic specific weapons do exist. It appears that ethnic specific biological weapons may indeed become possible in the near future."
Despite a recent surge in the incidence of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in South Asia, the incidence and mortality in proportion to the population size is lower than in Western Europe and North America. Multiple biological factors, environmental conditions and public health response have all likely contributed to this trend; however there is a need of basic, clinical and epidemiological research from this part of the world to understand these variations better. Data on prevalence and mortality in coming weeks and months will improve our understanding of behaviour of COVID-19 in South Asians.
Human genetic variants identified that affect COVID susceptibility and severity
An individual’s genetics can influence their risk of infection and the severity of disease symptoms. A large international study has identified parts of the human genome that can affect the risk of severe COVID-19.
Scientists are trying to find out whether there’s a genetic reason certain people have managed to avoid COVID for three years.
Gene linked to long COVID found in analysis of thousands of patients
The first genome-wide search for long-COVID risk factors could pave the way for larger studies.
The recently developed large-scale genome-wide cross-trait meta-analysis has shown their advantages in investigating the underlying genetic causes for comorbid conditions (5). Cross-trait meta-analysis is used to find the pleiotropic genomic single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and the genes shared by two comorbid conditions. For example, the cross-trait meta-analysis has found that there are shared genetic mechanisms between polycystic ovary syndrome and obesity (8), and it also provided the novel insights into the potential shared genetic architectures among five ocular diseases (9).
While cross-trait meta-analysis facilitates the understanding of comorbidity, it cannot be used to infer the causal relationships between the comorbid conditions by itself. The Mendelian randomization (MR) is a widely used design in inferring causal relationships.