RFK Jr. Claims China and the US Are Developing Race-Based Bioweapons

Nikki McCann Ramirez
·2 min read
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Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. continued his right-wing media tour on Wednesday with an appearance on Newsmax, during which he claimed that the Chinese government is developing race-based biological weapons.

“We know that the Chinese are developing ethnic bio-weapons. Bio-weapons that are designed to attack people of certain racial types. And we’re doing the same thing. We’ve been collecting Chinese DNA. We’ve been collecting Russian DNA specifically for that. [This] arms race is a catastrophe,” Kennedy told host Greta Van Susteren. The presidential hopeful provided no evidence to substantiate his claim.

The claim likely stems from an assertion made by Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin in May that “the Pentagon has formulated R&D plans for hitting opponents with genetically engineered weapons.” The statement was made by Wang in response to concerns raised by Secretary of State Antony Blinken regarding reports of “mass DNA collection to Tibet as an additional form of control and surveillance over the Tibetan population” by the Chinese Government.

Citing Russian state-controlled outlet RT, Wang further insisted that “the US Air Education and Training Command (AETC) once issued a tender seeking to acquire samples of ribonucleic acid (RNA) and synovial fluid from Russians.”

“It’s pretty clear who exactly is using genomic information for secret purposes,” he added.

In a statement to Newsweek following Wang’s comments, a senior Pentagon official said that the Defense Department “is not developing bioweapons and strongly refutes the assertion that we are.”

Kennedy, who is no stranger to conspiracy mongering, is best known for his baseless assertions that vaccinations are responsible for autism, and has dedicated much of his career to misrepresenting scientific research in order to back up his claims. 

Last week, during an appearance on the highly impressionable Joe Rogan’s podcast, Kennedy stated that he was “aware” of the possibility that U.S. intelligence agencies may attempt to assassinate him.

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