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As it happenedended1643039658

Anti-vaxx rally - latest: Outrage at RFK Jr Holocaust comments at vaccine mandate opponents gathering in DC

Oliver O'Connell
Monday 24 January 2022 10:54 EST
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Related Video: Tucker Carlson likens vaccine mandates to Nazi medical experiments

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Covid-19 vaccine mandate opponents gathered today for a march in Washington, DC in an event organisers called “Defeat the Mandates: An American Homecoming”.

Among those marching are firefighters, teachers, first responders, and other groups, who congregated on the National Mall from 10.30am local time. At 11.30am they began walking from the Washington Monument to the Lincoln Memorial.

Speeches included remarks from anti-vaccine activist Robert F Kennedy Jr, controversial doctor Robert Malone, and TV producer Del Bigtree, CEO of the anti-vaccination group Informed Consent Action Network.

Mr Kennedy’s comparison of vaccines to the Holocaust caused outrage online with the Auschwitz Memorial labelling such exploitative language as “a sad symptom of moral and intellectual decay”. Mr Bigtree’s rhetoric promising a Nuremberg trial for medical professionals and the press received a similar backlash from a survivor of The Capitol Gazette attack.

The event was billed as a gathering of those who oppose vaccine mandates, vaccines for children, and other pandemic requirements and restrictions, but most of the speakers are prominently against the vaccine itself.

A permit filed with the National Park Service states that the march could attract as many as 20,000 people, but numbers were much lower than anticipated.

Follow for the latest updates...

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Tucker Carlson clashes with Howard Stern over Covid-19

Fox News host Tucker Carlson has called radio personality Howard Stern a “coward” for sharing his concerns about Covid-19.

The controversial opinion host spent part of Thursday’sTucker Carlson Tonight bashing Stern for “amplifying his fears” about the pandemic and “attacking anybody else who has decided to live life as a free person”.

Gustaf Kilander reports.

Tucker Carlson declares war on Howard Stern over Covid-19 concerns

‘Maybe it was coronavirus that broke him, maybe it was hormonal changes from middle age, he is now a coward,’ Fox host declares

Oliver O'Connell24 January 2022 00:40
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Security was ramped up ahead of today’s march

Gustaf Kilander reports on the preparations ahead of today’s peaceful march.

Security beefed up in Washington DC ahead of major anti-vaxx rally

‘United States is in a period of heightened threat,’ DHS says

Oliver O'Connell24 January 2022 01:40
1642992022

Aaron Rodgers responds to Biden taunt

NFL star Aaron Rodgers has hit out at Joe Biden after the US president said he wanted the Green Bay Packers to get vaccinated.

Mr Biden made the remark to a Packers fan as he toured an area of Kentucky devastated by tornadoes and told the fan, “Tell that quarterback he’s gotta get the vaccine.”

Rodgers, a friend of podcast host Joe Rogan, caught Covid in November after falsely implying that he had been vaccinated and claimed the NFL had a “two-class system” for vaccinated and unvaccinated players.

Graeme Massie reports.

NFL star Aaron Rodgers hits out at Joe Biden over Covid-19 vaccine taunt

Green Bay Packers player got virus after falsely implying he was vaccinated

Oliver O'Connell24 January 2022 02:40
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Auschwitz Memorial hits back at RFK Jr

The Auschwitz Memorial has called Robert F Kennedy Jr’s remarks comparing vaccines to the Holocaust “a sad symptom of moral and intellectual decay”.

Speaking at an anti-vaxx rally in Washington DC on Sunday, the nephew of former president John F Kennedy claimed that in the future “none of us can run and none of us can hide”.

Bill Gates said his 65,000 satellites alone will be able to look at every square inch of the planet 24 hours a day. They’re putting in 5G to harvest our data and control our behaviour.”

He went on to compare vaccine passports to the Nazi regime.

Bevan Hurley reports.

Auschwitz Memorial hits back at RFK Jr’s anti-vax rant

Robert F Kennedy criticised for ‘exploiting of the tragedy’ of the Holocaust

Oliver O'Connell24 January 2022 03:40
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Robert F Kennedy Jr speaks during the rally railing against pharmaceutical companies
Robert F Kennedy Jr speaks during the rally railing against pharmaceutical companies (REUTERS)
Dr Robert Malone speaks at the 23 January Defeat the Mandates rally
Dr Robert Malone speaks at the 23 January Defeat the Mandates rally (REUTERS)
(REUTERS)
A person holds a placard outside the Lincoln Memorial during a march in opposition to Covid-19 vaccine mandates
A person holds a placard outside the Lincoln Memorial during a march in opposition to Covid-19 vaccine mandates (REUTERS)
Oliver O'Connell24 January 2022 04:30
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What next for the anti-vaccine/mandate movement?

Ben Collins of NBC News writes: “Most people are wildly underestimating how both large and rhetorically violent this anti-vaccine movement is.

“They are a gigantic, one-issue political movement that will eventually coalesce behind one candidate and make extreme demands before 2024.”

He adds: “Buckle up.”

Time’s Vera Bergengruen writes: “A lot of people dismissing the groups here today as a bunch of online conspiracy theorists are going to get a rude awakening. The larger anti-vaccine (/“anti mandates”) wing is a growing political movement bringing together many of the anti-government threads of the past decade.”

Oliver O'Connell24 January 2022 05:15
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That’s all for our rolling coverage of the anti-vaxx rally in Washington. Thank you for following along.

Harriet Sinclair24 January 2022 15:54

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