Curb Your Enthusiasm star Cheryl Hines has weighed in after her husband, Robert F Kennedy Jr, made controversial comments about the vaccine rollout.
Speaking at an anti-vaxx rally in Washington DC on Sunday (23 January), the nephew of former president John F Kennedy compared the pressure to get vaccinated to the Nazi regime.
He said: “Even in Hitler’s Germany, you could cross the Alps into Switzerland, you could hide in an attic like Anne Frank did. Today, the mechanisms are being put in place that will make it so none of us can run, and none of us can hide.”
After footage of the speech went viral on social media and was met with widespread criticism, actor Hines – who has been married to Kennedy since 2014 – wrote on Twitter: “My husband’s opinions are not a reflection of my own. While we love each other, we differ on many current issues.”
When a Twitter user then argued that Hines should have said her husband was “wrong” to compare the vaccine situation to the Holocaust, the star replied: “Yes, I agree with you.”
She further stated: “My husband’s reference to Anne Frank at a mandate rally in DC was reprehensible and insensitive. The atrocities that millions endured during the Holocaust should never be compared to anyone or anything. His opinions are not a reflection of my own.”
This week, the Aushwitz Memorial called Kennedy’s remarks “a sad symptom of moral and intellectual decay”.
“Making reckless comparisons to the Holocaust, the murder of six million Jews for a political agenda is outrageous and deeply offensive. Those who carelessly invoke Anne Frank, the star badge, and the Nuremberg Trials exploit history and the consequences of hate,” the museum added.
CNN anchor Jake Tapper labelled RFK an “ignorant lying menace”.
MSNBC’s Mehdi Hasan said using antisemitic analogies to fight against life-saving vaccines is “just beyond me”.
