RFK Jr. defends himself at House hearing as Dems rebuke him for COVID and race comment

Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Thursday appeared before a House subcommittee to testify at a hearing on censorship -- but it was his past comments that drew sharp rebuke from Democrats as Kennedy sought to defend himself.

Testifying in front of the GOP-led House Judiciary Committee's subcommittee on alleged government "weaponization," Kennedy denied that he is racist or antisemitic following comments that leaked over the weekend where he appeared to be citing a false conspiracy theory that COVID-19 was "targeted to" certain ethnicities while Chinese people and Ashkenazi Jews were more immune.

Kennedy said that he had "never uttered a phrase that was either racist or anti-semitic" and, despite repeatedly spreading conspiracy theories and misinformation on public health issues in the past, insisted that he was not anti-vaccination.