House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) was spreading COVID-19 conspiracy theories at a recent hearing where he claimed that Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was “just pointing out facts” by linking the death of baseball legend Hank Aaron to the COVID-19 vaccine.
In a tweet back in 2021, Robert Kennedy Jr. called the death of 86-year-old Hank Aaron “suspicious,” point out that it came during the same month he received the Moderna vaccine against COVID-19.
“#HankAaron’s tragic death is part of a wave of suspicious deaths among elderly closely following administration of #COVID #vaccines. He received the #Moderna vaccine on Jan. 5 to inspire other Black Americans to get the vaccine,” Kennedy said in a tweet.
#HankAaron's tragic death is part of a wave of suspicious deaths among elderly closely following administration of #COVID #vaccines. He received the #Moderna vaccine on Jan. 5 to inspire other Black Americans to get the vaccine. #TheDefenderhttps://t.co/vbuHt22bJz
— Robert F. Kennedy Jr (@RobertKennedyJr) January 22, 2021
Under new president Joe Biden, the White House wasted no time in flagging the tweet as “misinformation.” And that move seems to have upset Jim Jordan, who claims that Kennedy was “just pointing out facts” by calling Aaron’s death “suspicious.”
Jim Jordan begins the hearing by amplifying right-wing claims that Hank Aaron, who was 86, died because of the Covid vaccine pic.twitter.com/uyXSt8nLxx
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) July 20, 2023
“Misinformation is when you don’t have the facts right – saying things that aren’t true. But when you look at Mr. Kennedy’s tweet, there was nothing in there that was factually inaccurate,” Jordan said. “Hank Aaron – great American, real person – passes away after he got the vaccine. Just point out facts.”
Jordan’s comments elicited quite a few responses from social media.
Also, antivax nonsense aside, Jordan claims that the Biden White House was trying to censor Biden’s primary opponent in January 2021 when of course RFK Jr. wasn’t in fact (yet) Biden’s primary opponent.
These people lie so openly and brazenly. It’s really a sight to behold. https://t.co/N8BjjgCGQa
— Mehdi Hasan (@mehdirhasan) July 20, 2023
What died here was @jim_jordan's walnut-sized brain https://t.co/vOMhBtGlsL
— Keith Olbermann (@KeithOlbermann) July 20, 2023
Republican lies are killing Americans. https://t.co/Xu2QxP6bBq
— Mark Jacob (@MarkJacob16) July 20, 2023
I can’t believe THIS is what I’m waking up to. 🤦🏼♀️ https://t.co/EmTuHCTzb1
— JessicaUSAF (@JessicaUSAF) July 20, 2023
A whole lie. https://t.co/LGbTPOlKh3
— G O L D I E. (@goldietaylor) July 20, 2023
This is how they mislead people. They claim Hank Aaron died after getting the vaccine which implies it was because of the vaccine.
Everyone is going to die after getting the vaccine because no one lives forever, Jim. https://t.co/4anI2Ilzjk
— Melissa (@Proudmimi12) July 20, 2023
https://twitter.com/jholloway83/status/1682025698603696129?s=20
Jim Jordon lying to Congress https://t.co/Gp4Hi1mqob
— Xcntrik (@Xcntrik) July 20, 2023
It’s clear that people weren’t exactly happy with Jordan for these claims.
