Does RFK Jr have a voice disease? Inside why Health Secretary nominee’s voice is so gravelly and raspy
Robert F Kennedy Jr’s ‘brutal’ voice is due to a little-known condition that affects thousands of Americans.
Social media users remarked on his raspy voice after watching President Trump’s pick for Department of Health and Human Services at his confirmation hearing.
One X user wrote: ‘RFK Jr should prioritize finding a cure for his voice if I have to hear it.’
John Bechard wrote: ‘RFK Jr has to be disqualified just for his voice alone. Can you imagine listening to that every day?’
Other critics called his voice ‘froggy’ and sounding like ‘talking through a broken fan’ and ‘smoking 10 packs a day.’
However, RFK has revealed the sound could be due to a rare neurological condition called spasmodic dysphonia, which causes involuntary spasms in the voice box.
It’s thought the issue stems from defects in parts of the brain that control muscle movement, rather than a physical issue with the voice box itself.
While the condition is generally unknown, experts estimate it could afflict 50,000 people in North America.
RFK – who has been nominated as head of HHS – is being grilled at his confirmation hearing
The health secretary nominee said last year: ‘I think it makes it problematic for people to listen to me.
‘I cannot listen to myself on TV.’
RFK Jr has said he was diagnosed with spasmodic dysphonia in 1996 after receiving countless emails and letters from people who heard him on TV or radio shows.
The condition is typically diagnosed with fiberoptic nasolaryngoscopy, which uses a small lighted tube through the nose to examine the vocal cords, and videolaryngostroboscopy, which looks at vocal cord vibration.
While the cause of the condition is unknown, experts believe it’s due to abnormalities in the basal ganglia, a part of the brain controlling muscle movements.
It could also be due to dysfunction in the cortico-laryngeal pathway, which connects the brain to the vocal cords. .
It’s unclear how RFK Jr may have developed the condition or if the parasite found in his brain in 2010 damaged the parts of his brain that control his voice.
Some research also suggests spasmodic dysphonia could run in families, though a specific gene has not been identified.
Recommended treatments include speech therapy and counseling, as stress can exacerbate symptoms, as well as Botox injections to relax muscles in the larynx.
RFK Jr told the Los Angeles Times last year: ‘My voice doesn’t really get tired. It just sounds terrible. But the injury is neurological, so actually the more I use the voice the stronger it tends to get.
‘If I could sound better, I would.’
