RFK Jr. Apologizes for Anne Frank Reference in Anti-Vaccine Speech After Backlash from Wife, Others

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Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is sorry for his recent remarks comparing his anti-vaccine convictions to the plight of Anne Frank, the Jewish teenager who was killed during the Holocaust after her family hid for two years inside the secret annex of an Amsterdam house.

"I apologize for my reference to Anne Frank, especially to families that suffered the Holocaust horrors," the nephew of President John F. Kennedy wrote on Twitter on Tuesday. "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."

On Sunday, the younger Kennedy, 68, gave a speech at an anti-vaccine rally in Washington, D.C.

"Even in Hitler's Germany, you could cross the Alps to Switzerland. You could hide in an attic like Anne Frank did," he said. "Today the mechanisms are being put in place so none of us can run and none of us can hide."

His comments were quickly and broadly condemned on social media, icnluding by the Auschwitz Memorial, a museum at the site of the Nazi concentration camp where Frank was imprisoned for a time before being relocated to another camp, criticized his comments.

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"Exploiting of the tragedy of people who suffered, were humiliated, tortured & murdered by the totalitarian regime of Nazi Germany — including children like Anne Frank — in a debate about vaccines & limitations during global pandemic is a sad symptom of moral & intellectual decay," the institution wrote in a tweet.

The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, which is located on the National Mall in Washington, also posted a statement on Twitter following Kennedy's remarks.

"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 said, starting a thread that encouraged users to educate themselves on what Jews endured during the Holocaust and about the harm survivors and victims' families are subjected to when comparisons are made to the dark chapter of world history.

"Anne Frank was one of the 1.5 million children who died during the Holocaust. Her diary and tragic story is the first encounter many people have with the Holocaust," the statement continued. "Nazi officials used the Jewish badge to mark, segregate, and humiliate Jews as a prelude to deporting them to ghettos and killing centers. The badge was seen as a key element in their plan to persecute and destroy the Jewish population of Europe."

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Kennedy is a longtime and avid opponent of vaccines. His wife, Curb Your Enthusiasm star Cheryl Hines, made a statement of her own after his comments, responding to a Twitter user who asked if she stands with her husband.

Robert F Kennedy Jr/Instagram From left: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Cheryl Hines

"My husband's opinions are not a reflection of my own. While we love each other, we differ on many current issues," Hines wrote in her reply.

Hines subsequently wrote several tweets on the controversy, some responding to other users who asked her to be more specific about what she meant.

"My husband's reference to Anne Frank at a mandate rally in D.C. was reprehensible and insensitive," she wrote in one post. "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."

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The vaccine issue came up for the couple, who wed in 2014, during the recent holiday season.

Guests invited to their home for a party were allegedly told to be vaccinated in order to attend and to be tested for COVID-19 before showing up to celebrate with the couple.

Kennedy made a statement on the party prerequisite, saying, "I guess I'm not always the boss at my own house."

A year ago, he was banned from Instagram for sharing misinformation about vaccines that protect against serious COVID infections.

In a statement to PEOPLE after his ban, Kennedy defended the content he shared and doubled down on his false assertion that vaccines were being "hastily" created. He claimed that his removal from Instagram was "a formula for catastrophe and a coup d'état against the First Amendment."