U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. delivered sweeping remarks about Arabs and Muslims while appearing at a Republican campaign rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on Monday, saying that “500 million Arabs” do not “produce science.”
Kennedy made the remarks while discussing the Muslim Brotherhood after referencing Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers, who has raised the organization during his campaign against Democrat Abdul El-Sayed. El-Sayed has denied having ties to the Muslim Brotherhood and has publicly disavowed the group.
“Talking about the Muslim Brotherhood is not Islamophobia,” he added.
Kennedy went on to describe people living under the organization’s influence as being inside a “death cult” and immersed in what he called an ideology of “victimization, of murder, of genocide.”
Kennedy then said: “There’s 500 million Arabs in the world. And yet they don’t produce science. 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.”
Kennedy’s assertion about Nobel winners is contradicted by the Nobel Prize’s own records. Egyptian scientist Ahmed Zewail won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1999, while Egyptian novelist Naguib Mahfouz received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1988. Yemeni journalist and activist Tawakkol Karman shared the Nobel Peace Prize in 2011.
The remarks came in Michigan, which has the highest share of residents reporting Arab ancestry of any state, at about 2.2 percent, according to 2024 American Community Survey data from the U.S. Census Bureau.
Newsweek reached out to the Rogers and El-Sayed campaigns for comment on Kennedy’s remarks. Muslim Brotherhood Becomes Issue in Michigan Senate Race
The Muslim Brotherhood has become a contentious late-stage issue in the Senate race between Rogers and El-Sayed, with Rogers and his Republican allies seeking to link the Democrat to the organization.
Kennedy has also previously spoken publicly about the Muslim Brotherhood. Earlier in October, he deleted a social media post in which he accused the organization of conducting a Qatar-funded global propaganda campaign, according to The Jerusalem Post.
El-Sayed has repeatedly rejected the allegations, including publicly disavowing the Muslim Brotherhood.
The issue surfaced at the candidates’ October 21 debate, when Rogers raised alleged connections between El-Sayed and the organization, and El-Sayed responded that questioning his commitment to the U.S. Constitution was “shameful.”
El-Sayed also addressed the issue at a campaign event earlier this month when he was directly asked whether he would disavow the Muslim Brotherhood.
“Sure. Yeah, absolutely,” El-Sayed responded before pushing back against the premise of the question and arguing that it suggested his Muslim faith could mean he held divided loyalties.
Rogers continued pressing the issue during an appearance on NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday. Host Kristen Welker noted El-Sayed’s disavowal and questioned Rogers about his past remarks concerning engagement with members of the Muslim Brotherhood. Rogers argued that El-Sayed had not adequately addressed questions surrounding the organization.
Kennedy Was in Michigan for HHS Event
Earlier Monday, Kennedy was in Grand Rapids on official business, visiting Corewell Health to promote an initiative aimed at improving hospital food and nutrition education.
Kennedy said nearly 300 hospitals, including 21 Corewell facilities, had joined a pledge to prioritize whole foods, limit highly processed foods and sugar-sweetened beverages, and increase fiber-rich whole grains.
The HHS secretary has made nutrition a key part of his efforts to address chronic disease in the United States.
His appearance at Corewell Health came before he joined Rogers and Republican gubernatorial candidate John James at the campaign rally.
Well known science respecter, RFK Jr.
nom nom road kill
“Talking about the Muslim Brotherhood is not Islamophobia,”
“Now here’s some real Islamophobia!”
whats wrong with brotherhood?
It’s in their name, they’re Muslim. These fucks just want to hate.
[disclaimer: I know nothing about the MB, but I doubt most of these people do either]
Nobel in literature: Naguib Mahfouz
Nobel in science: Ahmed Zewail
And maybe if the western world stops killing kids in the middle east, maybe, I am thinking maybe those kids can become scientists but hey I am just a random guy on the internet who knows nothing
I am thinking maybe those kids can become scientists
America and Israel would emphatically agree with you, that’s why they target teachers in Gaza; there was a video by…Shaun skull? Noah Samsen? A Palestinian? Who mentioned that Israel was killing teachers in Gaza to slow or stop the development of kids over there; they’re also killing poets and literary figures (I think it was indeed Shaun skull’s video; I feel I recall him saying something about this)
Like a quick gaagle search 🤣
Who won the Nobel Peace prize? Obama? Manchado? A bunch of Iranian dissendents after they got arrested for treason?
Yeah it’s obvious what that institution is there for.
Yeah isn’t it crazy that the neoliberal imperialist awards institution doesn’t recognize Arabs all that much?
Never forget that Venezuelan dissident who gifted it to Trump
That would be Machado.
Oh I guess I’ve been mispronouncing it the whole time.
Crackers taking a break from being scientifically illiterate enough to nod along to wojak memes off to jerk themselves off over apparently knowing more science than the creators of modern math.
But when I mock fascists for being dumb cattle, I get called “elitist”, but the crackers being elitist and looking down on their superiors? Totally fine. Funny how it’s only a problem when you return to sender.
At this point cattle are both more intelligent and compassionate than reactionaries. At this rate reactionary commentary is just going to devolve into them just pointing and grunting incoherently at everything that isn’t a McDonald’s painted white
I am a cracker and I am like what the fuck… 🙄 This is soo not true like water ain’t wet…
RFK jr is a Kennedy yet he hasnt been assassinated yet? sounds sussy to me
Nothing about this is surprising. The racism and hate is the point. Republicans represent the absolute worst people in society. RFK jr is a fucking clown - he should be comforting families impacted by measles or formulating a national response to the epidemic, instead he’s spouting racist shit to the hamberder nazis at a klan rally.
And what really gets me is no one calls this “elitism”. Americans are such arrogant snobs about race and gender and want the whole world to cater to their smugness. None of them have the intellectual capacity for humility, and when you point out their arrogance is stupid. Somehow your lack of elitism is what’s elitist.
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
I guess a number system that’s been in place all over the world for millennia doesn’t count?
Guy who’s so racist he does long division with Roman numerals
Wasn’t Steve Jobs Syrian?
“Oh you hate
capitalismArabs? Do you have an iphone?!”And yet they don’t produce science. 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.
(*gollum!* *gollum!*) They stole it from us! Our precious oil!
Yeah it’d be super weird if our politicians were part of right wing religious fundamentalist organizations haha
The US-likes to use the phrase “bombing them back to the stone age”. Ironically doing that to themselves with generations of economic policies that affected education and anyone poor or not white enough.
“bombing them back to the stone age”
implying, whether they think they control it or not, that they were in fact at a later state to begin with
Truke. Like how much have we missed out on in terms of infrastructure because porky is whining that college education is unbecoming of us lowly poors.
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Nobel Prize is a western propaganda prize. Best example is the peace prize.
hot take but the nobel prize seems like a rigged joke and functions as propaganda.
Cold take, bud. It’s pretty well recognized that thats exactly what it is. You’re spot on.
Jewish individuals account for approximately 22% of all Nobel Prize winners
Oh for fuck sake fuck off
No u
Bruh you can be anti-zionist without jumping to the ZOG Jewish overlords Nazi shit. Like come the fuck on.
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Yeah. If Arabs were any good at science, then there would be some evidence of Arabic words in scientific fields. No way that they could have named algebra, chemistry, about half the named stars in the sky, any of that.
Chemistry actually derives its name from pre-Arabic name of Egypt.
The Muslim Brotherhood has become a contentious late-stage issue in the Senate race between Rogers and El-Sayed
“Simply never stop being racist, regardless of any input from reality”Kennedy said nearly 300 hospitals, including 21 Corewell facilities, had joined a pledge to prioritize whole foods, limit highly processed foods and sugar-sweetened beverages, and increase fiber-rich whole grains.
Ok sure, dietary changes can improve health outcomes, but not at the point (or for the duration) that you’re in the damn hospital! Just let people eat what they can/want while dying/convalescing
Hospital food is already usually healthy and specifically set up by dietitians. Those that aren’t are options set up for capitalist reasons. This is at best zero actual change with some extra paperwork for some mid level manager in the dietary department
