RFK Jr. apologizes after condemnation for Anne Frank comment

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

By MICHELLE R. SMITH

Anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., apologized Tuesday for suggesting things are worse for people today than they were for Anne Frank, the teenager who died in a Nazi concentration camp after hiding with her family in a secret annex in an Amsterdam house for two years.

Kennedy’s comments, made at a Washington rally on Sunday put on by his anti-vaccine nonprofit group, were widely condemned as offensive, outrageous and historically ignorant. It’s the second time since 2015 that Kennedy has apologized for referencing the Holocaust during his work sowing doubt and distrust about vaccines.

“I apologize for my reference to Anne Frank, especially to families that suffered the Holocaust horrors,” Kennedy said in a tweet Tuesday morning. “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.”

Kennedy’s wife, the actress Cheryl Hines of HBO’s Curb Your Enthusiasm, distanced herself from her husband in her own tweet about 20 minutes later. She called the reference to Anne Frank “reprehensible and insensitive.”



FILE - Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. speaks after a hearing challenging the constitutionality of the state legislature's repeal of the religious exemption to vaccination on behalf of New York state families who held lawful religious exemptions, during a rally outside the Albany County Courthouse, Aug. 14, 2019, in Albany, N.Y. Kennedy is apologizing for suggesting things are worse for people today than they were for Anne Frank, the teenager who died in a Nazi concentration camp after hiding with her family in a secret annex for two years. Kennedy’s comments were made at a Washington rally on Sunday put on by his anti-vaccine nonprofit group. (AP Photo/Hans Pennink, File)


Read more: https://apnews.com/article/rfk-jr-apology-anne-frank-comments-9a6855403b91f5debf98f23c6db90551

[dchill]

1. Another "Sorryif..."

Fuck him.

[bucolic_frolic]

2. Awareness at the point of apology

is an apology.

[Paladin]

3. Apology NOT accepted.

Shut up and fuck off, junior.

[Natal]

5. Kee-ripes!

Anti-vaccine, insensitive to Jews, WTF is next?

[Shermann]

6. You could hide in an attic like Anne Frank did?

Really? I was under the impression the Gestapo arrested her and dragged her out of there.

That's a pretty lame example of a "freedom" that we don't have.

[Orrex]

7. Ah yes, RFK Jr, beloved by antivax assholes for years and years

Seems like only yesterday when that insufferable asshole was winning hearts and minds by preaching the evils of MMR-induced autism.

Why the fuck does anyone still listen to him?

[DFW]

8. Holy crap, has he gotten old!

I haven't seen him in almost 12 years, but he looks like he has aged 30 years--and that photo is two and a half years old? He must have been going though some serious changes in the meantime to have made him look like that. No wonder he has gone off the deep end mentally as well. I hope he isn't suffering from something really drastic and has been hiding it for the last decade. He sure looks like it, though.

[TexasBushwhacker]

34. He's pushing 70. How good is he supposed to look? N/t

[TexasBushwhacker]

35. He's pushing 70. How good is he supposed to look? N/t

[DFW]

37. Better than that! I'm pushing 70, too. Less than 2 months, in fact. So what?

I sure as hell don't look THAT tired and worn out. I have DU eyewitnesses, too!
I bet I have longer working hours than he does, too.

[Bengus81]

9. He's a jackass and keeps getting worse on being vaccinated

I've always liked RFK Jr. and was blown away months and months ago when I heard about his stance on vaccinations. Fuck him. Looks like Mrs. Trophy got him on the apology tour.

[whathehell]

13. What "apology tour"?

and who, pray tell, is "Mrs. Trophy"? One apology does not a "tour" make. Just sayin'.

[TexasBushwhacker]

32. He's married to actress Cheryl Hines of Curb Your Enthusiasm n/t

[whathehell]

39. Thats nice, but what does it have to do

with his anti-vax stance, and why is Cheryl Hines necessarily a "trophy" wife?

I guess I'm just tired of people criticizing someone. and then just "making shit up" about everyone around them.

[TexasBushwhacker]

44. I was just answering your question about who he is married to

As for RFK Jr, here is his non-profit corporation, Children's Health Defense.

https://childrenshealthdefense.org/

He is the highest paid employee, receiving over $250K per year.

[whathehell]

50. Yes, I realize that.thanks,

but what I was actually asking was, not WHO she was. but why someone who.doesn' t know either of them personally, would presume to call her a "tropphy" wife, and no one has answered that yet.

Please understand that neither this questions, or the other unanswered one, has ANYTHING to do with " "defending" RFK Jr, himself, as I think he's acting like a destructive asshole.

What I am criticizing is the tendency of some to trash
the people AROUND the criticized person, i.e, RFK' s wife, on the basis of nothing.

My.point is, stick to the facts. Trying to "bolster" one's attack on someone by baselessly attacking their relatives and associates is both unfair and unwarranted.

[The Mouth]

10. Total nutter

A despicable excuse for a human

[inganmistral]

11. Is there a typhoid vaccine?

[Lasher]

18. Yes, there are two of them.

From a Google search:

One is an inactivated (killed) vaccine and the other is a live, attenuated (weakened) vaccine. Your health care provider can help you decide which type of typhoid vaccine is best for you. Inactivated typhoid vaccine is administered as an injection (shot).

[sarge43]

41. Yes, since 1896

Developed by bacteriologist Almroth Wright. It's estimated that during WWI a half a million lives in the British forces were saved by mass vaccination for typhoid.

It used to be called the soldier's disease.

[BlueIdaho]

12. Fucking Idiot.

This is beyond stupid, it is mean, hurtful, and unbelievably insensitive.

[PSPS]

14. "To the extent my remarks caused hurt"

I presume this is all schtick for him, since he's making big money through this "non profit."

[keithbvadu2]

22. The non-apology apology.

[FarPoint]

15. I am soooooooo

done with this Kennedy.

[Evolve Dammit]

16. What an asshole. I listened for years to his arguments and am now done. Permanently.

[Midnight Writer]

17. That's what he feels warrants an apology?

[Joinfortmill]

19. Not enough. Stay out of the public arena.

[Talitha]

20. Yet another Jr who should just STFU...

[no_hypocrisy]

21. That's no apology.

No regret except for being misunderstood.

Not sorry he made that statement and no understanding why it was wrong.

[Lunabell]

23. Wow, he's gone down the Qanon rabbit hole with the rest of the deplorables.

Who'd've thought a Kennedy would be as bad as that?

[IronLionZion]

24. Maybe preventable viruses have eaten through his brain

[BumRushDaShow]

25. Their mantra - "It's easier to ask forgiveness than permission"

[Major Nikon]

26. The insensitive comment is the least of his dumfuckery

[niyad]

27. First of all, you asshole, Anne Frank was in AMSTERDAM, not Germany.

Second, your disgusting comment was crass, ignorant, and incendiary.

Third, your insanity and ignorance are killing people, and fueling the growing insanity in this country.

Do us all a favour, and SHUT UP.

[orleans]

28. i think all of these assholes that make these insane comparisons referencing the holocaust

should all just shut the fuck up and go fuck off!

[live love laugh]

29. Damn I used to follow him. He's a goner. nt

[garybeck]

30. Lame "apology" fuck him

[Skittles]

31. I'm glad he apologized but....

just the idea that you could even consider using the memory of a murdered teenage girl to push your insane delusions - HE NEEDS TO GET A MENTAL HEALTH EVALUATION

[Marcuse]

33. All indecency aside, Junior is on the wrong side of his own example with regard to mass deaths.

[twodogsbarking]

36. Backpedaling is not apologizing.

[oldsoftie]

38. Disappointed to see Cheryl Hines married such a whack job.

And that didn't start with Covid; he's long been anti vaccine.

[NNadir]

40. I don't have much use for Kos but I did see "Cavorts with Nazis..."

Robert Kennedy Jr. cavorts with Nazis, and suing Daily Kos won't make that any less true

RFK Jr. has been a fool for his entire adult life, and more or less has been a "holier than thou" frat boy. It's clear that he's never taken a science class in his life of untrammeled privilege.

What, though, can one really expect from a man whose Godfather was Joseph McCarthy?

[wolfie001]

42. Something is wrong with this clown's brain!

[GB_RN]

43. If RFK Jr Wasn't Welcome At Holiday Gatherings Before...

I suspect he won't be welcome at them this year. What a fool.

[Demovictory9]

45. Cheryle hines is married to him?

[sakabatou]

46. Bullshit.

That's not an apology whatsoever.

[leftyladyfrommo]

47. That was after his wife laid into him for his incredibly

stupid insensitive comment.

[yellowcanine]

48. It is an embarrassment that RFK Jr. knows so little about the history of WWII.

He completely botched the story of Anne Frank. Almost as if he confused Frank's story with the story of the von Trapp family in the "Sound of Music." JFK must be rolling over in his grave.

[yellowcanine]

49. "Sorry if anyone was offended." apology is not an apology. Fuck off Bobby.