Robert F. Kennedy Jr. issued an apology after making a reference to Anne Frank during a January 23 rally in Washington, D.C. against COVID-19 vaccine mandates, The Hill reported.
At the rally, Kennedy, 68, argued that the mandates are part of “turnkey totalitarianism” in which politicians and bureaucrats are using “technological mechanisms for control.” “Even in Hitler’s Germany, you could cross the Alps into Switzerland. You could hide in an attic like Anne Frank did,” he said. “I visited in 1962 East Germany with my father [Robert F. Kennedy], and met people who had climbed the [Berlin Wall] and escaped. Many died, truly, but it was possible. Today, the mechanisms are being put in place so none of us can run and none of us can hide.” Kennedy went on to claim that “low-orbit satellites” would be used to track people.
Kennedy’s wife, Cheryl Hines, was among those who criticized him for his remarks.
“My husband’s reference to Anne Frank at a mandate rally in D.C. was reprehensible and insensitive,” the “Curb Your Enthusiasm” actress wrote. “The atrocities that millions endured during the Holocaust should never be compared to anyone or anything. His opinions are not a reflection of my own.”
https://twitter.com/CherylHines/status/1486002123280199684?s=20
The Auschwitz Memorial Museum and Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt had also denounced the Anne Frank comment, as the museum called it an example of “intellectual decay” and Greenblatt tweeted that the analogy was “deeply inaccurate, deeply offensive and deeply troubling.”
.@RobertKennedyJr invoking Anne Frank’s memory and the mass murder of Jews by the Nazis as a comparison to the U.S. gov't working to ensure the health of its citizens is deeply inaccurate, deeply offensive and deeply troubling. This must stop. https://t.co/CbvV10xMou
— Jonathan Greenblatt (@JGreenblattADL) January 24, 2022
Kennedy tweeted on January 25, “I apologize for my reference to Anne Frank, especially to families that suffered the Holocaust horrors. My intention was to use examples of past barbarism to show the perils from new technologies of control. To the extent my remarks caused hurt, I am truly and deeply sorry.”
I apologize for my reference to Anne Frank, especially to families that suffered the Holocaust horrors. My intention was to use examples of past barbarism to show the perils from new technologies of control. To the extent my remarks caused hurt, I am truly and deeply sorry.
— Robert F. Kennedy Jr (@RobertKennedyJr) January 25, 2022
Reactions to his apology were mixed.
“Good on @RobertKennedyJr for this apology,” Kentucky Chabad of Bluegrass Co-Director Rabbi Shlomo Litvin, who also chairs the Kentucky Jewish Council, tweeted. “The juxtaposition of US health policies and the genocide of 6 million Jewish men women and children is a false comparison. I appreciate you trying to make the hurt right. The error of the comparison should be acknowledged as well.”
Good on @RobertKennedyJr for this apology.
The juxtaposition of US health policies and the genocide of 6 million Jewish men women and children is a false comparison.
I appreciate you trying to make the hurt right.
The error of the comparison should be acknowledged as well. https://t.co/pFL7vRnvGp
— Rabbi S Litvin (@BluegrassRabbi) January 25, 2022
Writer Kimberly Ross, by contrast, argued that Kennedy’s apology wasn’t genuine because it’s part of his “brand.” As evidence, she shared a screenshot of a 2015 Guardian article about how Kennedy apologized for referencing the Holocaust when arguing that autism is linked to vaccines.
You’re not sincerely apologizing. This is your brand. 🙄 https://t.co/4ssF7tCshS pic.twitter.com/hwqC6cGLYJ
— Kimberly Ross (@SouthernKeeks) January 25, 2022
