Robert F. Kennedy has gained prominence in recent months as some polls show that his quest to win the Democratic Party's presidential nomination is picking up steam.

In response, some high-profile Democrats have attempted to portray Kennedy as a racist. However, the candidate has made clear that he is more than willing to push back. 

Democrats accuse Kennedy of pushing "racist and antisemitic conspiracy theories"

Among those on the attack is longtime Democratic campaign strategist Eddie Vale, who reacted angrily last week following Kennedy's decision to testify before the House Judiciary Committee.

"On his own, he was doing a really good job of showing everyone his initials stood for Real F—ing [K]razy, so made sense to let him be," Vale told The Hill.

"This week was different and made sense for folks to engage, because of the combination of outright antisemitism and being a witness for Republicans' nonsense hearing," he complained.

The Hill noted that White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre spoke us as well, saying, "If you think about the racist and antisemitic conspiracy theories that come out of saying those types of things, it is an attack on our fellow citizens, our fellow Americans."

"It is important that we essentially speak out when we hear those claims made more broadly," Jean-Pierre went on to insist.

Kennedy says attacks on him have been "defamatory"

Those allegations stem from an earlier allegation that Kennedy believes COVID-19 was engineered not to kill Jewish people, a claim which the candidate contested in a series of tweets.

The @nypost story is mistaken. I have never, ever suggested that the COVID-19 virus was targeted to spare Jews. I accurately pointed out — during an off-the-record conversation — that the U.S. and other governments are developing ethnically targeted bioweapons and that a 2021…

— Robert F. Kennedy Jr (@RobertKennedyJr) July 15, 2023

He also confronted his detractors when appearing on Capitol Hill last week, accusing them of engaging in "defamatory" behavior.

IceManCRYPTOS : 🇺🇸 Robert F Kennedy defends himself from Democrats trying to smear his name @RobertKennedyJr RFK is on 🔥 pic.twitter.com/ltOZFoYlZu

— Lou (@IceManCRYPTOS) July 21, 2023

"Anything I say will be distorted and weaponized against me"

Meanwhile, The Guardian reported that Kennedy further defended himself while speaking in New York on Tuesday night at an event hosted by Rabbi Shmuley Boteach.

"There’s a way to censor people through targeted character assassination – you use vile accusations to marginalize them, and that is the kind of censorship I’m now dealing with," he said.

Still, Kennedy did acknowledge that he "should have been more careful about what I said because I know anything I say will be distorted and weaponized against me."