Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an anti-vaccine activist and nephew of President John F. Kennedy, apologized on Tuesday for comments at a Washington rally suggesting things are worse for people in 2022 during the COVID-19 pandemic than they were for Anne Frank, a teen who died in a Nazi concentration camp.
"I apologize for my reference to Anne Frank, especially to families that suffered the Holocaust horrors," Kennedy tweeted. "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, actress Cheryl Hines, released her own statement on Twitter, making it clear that she did not agree with his comments.
"My husband's reference to Anne Frank at a mandate rally in D.C. was reprehensible and insensitive. The atrocities that millions endured during the Holocaust should never be compared to anyone or anything."
The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum released a statement on Twitter on Monday saying the comparisons are "outrageous and deeply offensive."
"For survivors, the Holocaust is not "history." These are not abstract tragedies to exploit to prove a point. They carry the painful memories of the brutal murder of a baby boy, the rape of a sister, the parents arrested and never seen again."
The Associated Press reported that during Sunday's rally, held by Kennedy's anti-vaccine nonprofit group Children's Health Defense, Kennedy said COVID-19 public health mandates were violating people's rights, saying doctor Anthony Fauci "was orchestrating 'fascism.'"
"Even in Hitler's Germany, you could you could cross the Alps to Switzerland. You could hide in an attic like Anne Frank did," said Kennedy, the son of former U.S. Attorney General, U.S. Senator and presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy.
This is not the first time Kennedy has referenced Nazi Germany and the Holocaust when referencing public health measures. An AP investigation released last month referenced a speech at the Ron Paul Institute in October when Kennedy compared government public health mandates to Nazi propaganda.
The investigation also mentions a video Kennedy released that featured Fauci with a Hitler mustache. AP reported that Kennedy also apologized in 2015 for using the word "Holocaust" to describe children he believed were hurt by vaccines.
According to Politico, David Gorski, a cancer surgeon at Wayne State University School of Medicine in Detroit, said the continued comparisons demonstrate Kennedy "means it."
Jonathan Greenblatt, the CEO for the Anti-Defamation League, called Kennedy's comment "deeply offensive" in a Twitter post.
"@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," the tweet reads.
A recent investigation published by the BBC found that Frank, who died at age 15, most likely had her hiding location revealed by Arnold van den Bergh, a member of Amsterdam's Jewish Council, in exchange for saving himself and his family.
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