RFK Jr has found himself at the centre of a fresh wave of controversy, after making remarks that denied Arab contributions to mathematics, science and literature. United States Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. sparked significant uproar following comments he made during a US election campaign event in Grand Rapids, Michigan, while supporting Republican nominee Mike Rogers. Rogers is up against Arab-American Democrat nominee Abdul El-Sayed in a tightly contested battle for Michigan’s Senate seat ahead of next week’s midterm elections.(The remarks cited below belong to RFK Jr. alone. The publication neither endorses nor aligns with comments of this nature, which many have condemned as racist and factually false.)During what has been described as a high-voltage rant on Monday, Kennedy said,“There’s five hundred 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, who has previously been involved in anti-vaccine campaigns and has promoted a debunked theory linking vaccines to autism, now faces fresh backlash following his remarks. His younger sister, sixty-seven-year-old Kerry Kennedy, shared her opinion on the situation via social media.“A person’s race, religion, ethnicity or socioeconomic background does not determine their intellect, creativity or capacity to contribute to humanity,” she shared.She concluded her post on X with the words,“My thoughts are with all those hurt by my brother’s false, cruel and derogatory words.”Kerry Kennedy opens up about her brother RFK Jr:President Trump Campaigns In Florida For Republican Candidates - Source: GettyKerry Kennedy is the seventh of eleven children born to Ethel and Robert F. Kennedy. As per her profile on the Robert and Ethel Kennedy Human Rights Center, she has devoted more than forty years to the pursuit of equal justice, the promotion and protection of basic rights, and the preservation of the rule of law. Her work spans a wide range of issues, including child labor, women’s rights, Indigenous land rights, judicial independence, ethnic violence, criminal justice reform, immigration, environmental justice, and the human rights impacts of artificial intelligence.Kerry Kennedy opened her post on X with words she borrowed directly from her brother. The quote, originally spoken by RFK Jr. on Larry King Now on August 5, 2016, read,“The easiest thing for a political leader to do is to appeal to our bigotry and our hatred and xenophobia and prejudice, and point to people who are unlike us and say they’re the ones who are damaging our country.”(The quote above reflects RFK Jr’s own words from 2016. Kerry Kennedy’s use of it represents her personal commentary on her brother’s current remarks and does not imply that RFK Jr. holds the same position today. The characterisation of her brother that follows is Kerry Kennedy’s own opinion.)Having set the stage with her brother’s own past words, Kerry then shared where she now stands personally.“There was a time when I completely agreed with my brother. Today, I am deeply ashamed of him. Arab and Muslim people alike have made extraordinary contributions to the world across literature, science, mathematics, medicine and countless other fields. To name a few, Omar M. Yaghi won the Wolf Prize in Chemistry in 2018 and the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2025. Ahmed Zewail won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1999, and Naguib Mahfouz won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1988,” explained Kerry in detail.This is not the first time Kerry Kennedy stood up against her brother RFK Jr:Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Appears For House Hearing On Next Year's Budget Request - Source: GettyKerry Kennedy’s decision to speak out against her brother was not a new development. Back in May 2024, The New York Times shared a report on how Kerry had already been leading the family’s pushback against RFK Jr. At a Democratic campaign rally in Philadelphia, she stood alongside her siblings and President Joe Biden, sharing,“Nearly every single grandchild of Joe and Rose Kennedy supports Joe Biden. That’s right: The Kennedy family endorses Joe Biden for president.”Her siblings had said her outsize role in that pushback grew out of the deep affection she had always shown her brother since their childhood, and the disappointment she felt as his political positions shifted. There was also a personal cost to it. In an interview, she shared,“I love Bobby. It’s heart-wrenching to be in this position.”(The remark below is Christopher G. Kennedy’s personal characterisation of his brother and does not reflect the editorial stance of this publication.)Her brother Christopher G. Kennedy spoke to the burden she carried, saying,“Kerry feels a special burden with his candidacy. She has supported hundreds of human rights activists around the world. Her abilities would be diminished if the Kennedy name is associated with fringe thinking, crackpot ideas and unsound judgment.”