Robert F. Kennedy Jr. uses racist lies to target Abdul El-Sayed
By Maya Ellison · Reporting from Detroit ·
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. falsely claimed Arabs do not produce science to attack candidate Abdul El-Sayed, a move that uses white supremacist tropes to dehumanize millions.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is not just wrong; he is dangerous. As the United States Health Secretary, he does not have the luxury of "opinions" when those opinions are blatant, racist lies. Kennedy stood in Michigan and tried to erase the intellectual history of an entire people. He did this to help Republican Mike Rogers win a Senate seat. He did this by targeting Abdul El-Sayed, a physician and former public health official. When a cabinet official uses his platform to dehumanize half a billion people, it is not a campaign gaffe. It is a calculated attempt to use state power to fuel bigotry.
A calculated erasure of the truth
Kennedy’s remarks were a textbook display of white supremacy. According to NBC News, Kennedy stated, “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.” He went further, claiming the Muslim Brotherhood “created stagnant societies.”
This is the same playbook I saw in Flint. Power doesn't just ignore the vulnerable; it tells a lie to make that neglect seem natural. Kennedy is not just attacking a candidate; he is attacking the very idea that Arab people are capable of brilliance. The Council on American-Islamic Relations noted that this erasure fans the flames of hate at a time when these communities are already vulnerable.
The irony is thick enough to choke on. As Cole Wozniak, a spokesperson for Abdul El-Sayed, noted, it is "rich" for an anti-scientist to lecture a doctor with two doctoral degrees. Kennedy has spent years promoting a debunked theory linking vaccines to autism. Now, he wants to be the arbiter of who "produces science."
The evidence he chose to ignore
The facts are not just available; they are overwhelming. Al Jazeera and The Washington Post both report that Kennedy's claims are false. The record of Arab contribution to humanity is a pillar of modern life. During the Islamic Golden Age, Arabic was the language of scholarship. Arab mathematicians spread the numerals. Muḥammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi treated algebra as a separate discipline.
Kennedy’s claim that Arabs don't win the Nobel Prize is a lie that falls apart under the slightest scrutiny. Ahmed Zewail, an Egyptian scientist, won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry. Omar M Yaghi, born in Jordan to a Palestinian refugee family, won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry. Egyptian author Naguib Mahfouz won the Nobel Prize in Literature.
Even the Fields Medal, which Kennedy claimed is out of reach, was won by Michael Atiyah, who was born to a Lebanese father. This is not a matter of "interpretation." It is a matter of basic record. To deny these achievements is to engage in a deliberate act of intellectual violence.
The mechanism of dehumanization
This is not an isolated event. It is a pattern. This rhetoric shares the same mechanism as the Nazi Party's persecution of 'Jewish Science'. The Nazis used pseudoscientific claims to erase the intellectual contributions of Jews to justify their dehumanization and eventual murder. By labeling the achievements of a marginalized group as non-existent or fraudulent, the state clears the path for persecution.
We have seen this movie before. When the government tells you a group of people cannot think, create, or contribute, it is preparing you to accept their suffering.
The strongest case for Kennedy is that he was merely speaking to a specific political base in a heated election. His supporters might say he was criticizing a political movement, not a race. But you cannot claim a race "doesn't produce science" and then claim you aren't being racist. The evidence is in the words. He did not attack a policy; he attacked a people's capacity for thought.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is unfit to lead the Department of Health and Human Services. He has used his office to validate white supremacist talking points for political gain. Justice requires his immediate removal. If the White House shields him, they are admitting that the administration views Islamophobia as a valid tool of governance. This is a coordinated campaign to delegitimize Muslim Americans as humans. We must treat it as the emergency it is.