Democrat lawmakers on the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government sought to disrupt Democrat presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s testimony in the committee’s hearing on censorship Thursday.
Early in the proceedings, Florida Democrat Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz introduced a motion to move the hearing into an “executive session” — indicating that Kennedy’s testimony would be likely to “defame, degrade, or incriminate” — and transfer testimony to behind closed doors. Wasserman Schultz cited recent controversial comments by Kennedy claiming the novel Wuhan coronavirus may have been “ethnically targeted” to “attack Caucasians and black people” more than “Jews and Chinese people.”
“Mr. Kennedy has repeatedly made despicable antisemitic and anti-Asian comments as recently as last week,” the congresswoman said before she was interrupted by a rival motion to table.
The Republican majority on the committee ultimately voted to table Wasserman Schultz’s motion while Democrats opposed the delay.
Wasserman Schultz’s failed effort to censor Kennedy’s testimony followed demands from House Democrats that Republicans rescind Kennedy’s invitation to testify altogether. Kennedy was invited to testify at the censorship hearing after the recent Missouri v. Biden lawsuit noted he was part of a group of social media users — dubbed by federal officials the “disinformation dozen” — whose posts bureaucrats routinely flagged for censorship.
Without a formal measure to censor the Democratic primary candidate, Democrats on the weaponization committee interrupted Kennedy multiple times before lawmakers even convened their first recess.
The Democrats’ ranking member on the committee, Virgin
