RFK Jr denies Arab scientific heritage at Michigan rally

US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. stated on Monday that Arabs do not produce science, math, or literature.

The comments caused a sharp reaction from critics who called the remarks racist and Islamophobic. They pointed to centuries of Arab innovation and modern award winners to refute the health secretary's claim.

Kennedy made the statement at a campaign event in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He was supporting Republican nominee Mike Rogers, who faces Democrat nominee Abdul El-Sayed in a tight race for a Senate seat. The election is scheduled for next week. Kennedy, who has previously promoted anti-vaccine views, told the crowd: “There’s five hundred 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.”

The claim ignores a long history of contributions to mathematics and medicine. Arab mathematicians adopted the zero-to-nine numerals from ancient India and spread them globally. This system replaced Roman numerals. In the ninth century, Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi wrote Al-Jabr, a work that established algebra as a separate discipline. He is often called the father of algebra.

Other scholars made lasting medical and scientific advances. Ibn al-Haytham, known as the father of modern optics, explained how light enters the eye. Abu al-Qasim al-Zahrawi, called the father of modern surgery, wrote a 30-volume encyclopedia and designed surgical tools. Ibn al-Nafis described pulmonary circulation centuries before Europeans understood the process.

Modern awards also contradict the health secretary's assertion. Naguib Mahfouz won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1988. He remains the only winner who wrote in Arabic. Ahmed Zewail won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1999 for his work in femtochemistry. Omar M. Yaghi won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 2025 for developing metal-organic frameworks, materials that can store gases and trap pollutants.

Public figures have weighed in on the controversy. Vaccine scientist Peter Hotez posted on X that Arab scientists of the Middle Ages preserved the works of Aristotle, Hippocrates, and Galen for the Renaissance. Broadcaster Mehdi Hasan called the comments racist and noted that Yaghi, a Palestinian-American, won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry last year. The Council on American-Islamic Relations called for Kennedy's removal from office. The group stated that dehumanizing 500 million people with fabricated talking points makes him disqualifying for public office.

The comments land as Kennedy's department oversees public health policy. His previous promotion of a debunked link between vaccines and autism drew attention to his influence on national health messaging. The current dispute adds to the debate over his role in the administration.