Kathrine Frich
He attacked the entire Arab world during a campaign event in Michigan
Campaign stops usually follow a well-worn script of local praise and big promises.
Politicians step up to the microphone to rally voters and support their party allies.
Every so often, though, a speaker goes completely off the rails and sparks a nationwide uproar in just thirty seconds.
A thirty-second rant
US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. attacked the entire Arab world during a campaign event in Michigan on Monday night, HuffPost reported.
He was in the state stumping for Republican Representatives Mike Rogers and John James when he launched into the remarks.
“There’s five hundred million Arabs in the world,” Kennedy said to open the thirty-second tirade. “And yet they don’t produce science,” he continued.
“They don’t win the Nobel Prize. They don’t win the Fields Prize. They don’t win the Wolf Prize. They don’t produce literature.”
That claim falls apart against historical records.
According to HuffPost, Arab laureates have won three Nobel Prizes in science, five Nobel Peace Prizes, and two Nobel Prizes in literature since 1978, with scientists Ahmed Zewail and Omar M. Yaghi also winning the Wolf Prize.
Even so, the cabinet official kept going and claimed that Arab countries only made books in the distant past. “In the 13th century, typical Muslim princes had more books in their libraries than existed in all of Europe,” he continued. “And all of that tradition has been destroyed by the Muslim Brotherhood. They’ve created stagnant societies that do two things: hatred and war, and victimization.”
Demands for his firing
Backlash arrived swiftly from the Council on American-Islamic Relations, the largest Muslim civil rights group in the United States. In an emailed statement reported by HuffPost, the organization demanded that President Donald Trump fire Kennedy from the cabinet, calling his remarks “utterly disqualifying for public office”.
“Anyone who holds such blatant contempt for an entire ethnicity has no business leading a federal agency meant to serve all Americans,” the group added.
Health advocacy groups also piled on. Brad Woodhouse, who leads the progressive nonprofit Protect Our Care, sent an emailed statement blasting the speech.
“Fear and racism are the crutch of pathetic political hacks with absolutely nothing to offer or progress to point to,” Woodhouse said.
“Sec. Kennedy thinks spewing hate will distract from his multiple corruption scandals and starring role in the historic measles and food-borne illness crises Americans have suffered through this year. This wasn’t the first time RFK Jr. has trafficked in racism, but it may be his ugliest episode yet.”
