On Wednesday's Morning Joe on MS NOW, co-host Joe Scarborough claimed Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s father would be ashamed of his comments about how few Arabs have received a Nobel Prize.
MS NOW's Morning Joe
October 28, 2026
7:18 a.m. Eastern
JOE SCARBOROUGH: So, Mike, let me -- let me talk about somebody that you've known for a long time -- I've known for a long time whose father was my political hero. Reason I actually got involved in politics, even as a conservative young guy, it was Bobby Kennedy after I read Arthur Schlesinger's book, after I learned about what he did in Indianapolis on April the 4th, 1968, after I saw what he did in South Africa in 1966, actually, June 6th, 1966, two years before he tragically passed away. Bobby Kennedy was the reason I got involved in politics. And I told junior that as well.
And the remarkable thing about Bobby Kennedy was that -- that he threw open his arms for all Americans, and he understood the importance of, of, of America as a -- that we were stronger as -- as we were more diverse. And he took chances. I -- I just -- it's hard to even imagine how ashamed he would be of his son for denigrating over a billion people because of their faith.
Specifically, when Bobby Kennedy talked about how America had to move to becoming a country that -- that moved beyond prejudices based on faith and race. Listen, this is --
MIKA BRZEZINSKI: Heartbreaking.
SCARBOROUGH: This is heartbreaking. This is what Robert Kennedy Jr. -- I hate even saying that name -- this is what he did when he campaigned with Mike Rogers -- another guy that I've known, liked, respected has run an abhorrent, racist, bigoted campaign. But this is what Bobby Kennedy's son said when was asked about Arab and Muslim people.
ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR., HHS SECRETARY: And that's why you don't see any Muslims, any Arab Muslims winning the Nobel -- there's 500 million Arabs in the world, and yet they don't produce scient-- they don't win the Nobel Prize. They don't wing the Field prize. They don't win the Wolf prize. And they don't produce literature.
SCARBOROUGH: It's one of the most asinine things I've ever heard. And so RFK Jr.'s sister Kerry responded to those comments. She said, "The easiest thing for a political leader to do is to appeal to our bigotry or hatred or xenophobia or prejudice, and point to people who are unlike us and say they're the ones who are damaging the country." She highlighted that her brother said those words on Larry King back in 2016.
She continues, "There was a time I completely agreed with my brother. Today I am deeply ashamed of him." And, Mike, the entire family, I mean, entire family has to be so disappointed that this is what's become of him because, I've got to say, you know, he's playing for Trump. He's playing for bigots. I've heard him give speeches before in past times, much like what he said on Larry King that were inspiring speeches. I mean, but when he was environmental lawyer, going around his speeches were extraordinary. He said, you know, we -- we preach capitalism to single mothers, but we preach socialism, but we practice socialism with corporate leaders.
MIKE BARNICLE, MS NOW CONTRIBUTOR: That man is gone.
SCARBOROUGH: He is gone. And for what? Thirty pieces of silver? What has he sacrificed his extraordinary legacy for? It's like when I see Franklin Graham getting down in the gutter of MAGA politics. His father was like the Pope to hundreds of millions of people like me. His other family members, extraordinary. The ministry, extraordinary. What Samaritan Hands does, extraordinary. So many good things. And yet they get down in the gutter with Donald Trump. For what?
(Barnicle recalls when, in 1968, Robert F. Kennedy announced to a crowd in Indianapolis that Martin Luther King Jr. had been murdered, and called for unity.)
SCARBOROUGH: I mean, the cowardice that he showed by lurching to bigotry and what he considered to be a safe space is the opposite of what his father did that night in Indianapolis, where he goes into Indianapolis, he finds out that Martin Luther King has been shot. And he said, I'm going to go into the inner city. I'm going to talk to the people. I'm going to let them know what happened. Indianapolis police officers said no. The department said, "You can't go in there -- it's too dangerous. There are going to be riots. There's going to be killing. We're not even going in there. You can't go in there."
He said, "I'm going to go in there." So Bobby goes. Police officers escort him and then stop. His car goes in there, like Mike said by himself. And he goes in and he delivers what Jeff Greenfield, his speechwriter, said was the greatest speech of his life. And he said, the son of a, he just wrote it on the back of a card.
BARNICLE: Yeah.
SCARBOROUGH: Greatest speech of his life, where he talks about how a white man also killed his brother, and that now is the time not for division -- now is the time for unity. And he talked about the awful grace of God that drip by drip falls upon our heart and makes us better people, stronger people.
It was extraordinarily courageous. And he was willing to do that. And that night, Evan Thomas wrote in 2007, that night, over 100 cities burned in America. That night, Indianapolis went to bed in peace. And it's because of Bobby Kennedy's courage. And that is why I got involved in politics -- because I saw a man who made a difference, who had the courage to make the difference. And now I see a son -- and I take no pride in this -- I like Bobby personally, with what I've known of him in the past. He disgraces his father's name. He disgraces his father's memory. And I pray for him. I pray that he will reconnect with the legacy of his extraordinary father.
BRZEZINSKI: Richard Haas, thank you.
RICHARD HAAS: What we're seeing is money is not the only thing that corrupts. Ambition also corrupts. And that's what we're seeing day in, day out by the people around Donald Trump, who you have to believe many of them do not believe in him, do not agree with him, but for reasons of personal advancement, continue to stand by him. Robert F Kennedy, Jr., is one of them.
