“Why Does RFK Jr. Sound Like That?” How Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Rare Brain Disorder Affects His Voice
As the nation tuned in to Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s confirmation hearing to lead the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) this week, many Americans noted the sound of the 71-year-old’s voice, which might be described as raspy and unsteady. RFK, as the controversial politician is commonly known, has shared that he suffers from what Dr. Patricia Varacallo, DO confirms to be “a neurological disorder called spasmodic dysphonia.”
The Cleveland Clinic defines spasmodic dysphonia as “a rare speech disorder that affects your vocal cords, making your voice change and sound different. Your voice may break, sound tight and strained or very breathy.” The condition is said to affect the larynx, also called the voice box.
According to the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD), spasmodic dysphonia is believed to be caused by abnormal function of the basal ganglia and cerebral cortex, parts of the brain that control muscle movement and compute sensory information. The Cleveland Clinic further explains: “Women and people assigned female at birth (AFAB) are more likely to have this condition than men and people assigned male at birth (AMAB). It can start at any age, but spasmodic dysphonia usually begins between ages 30 and 60.” The Clinic adds that spasmodic dysphonia is currently diagnosed in fewer than 500,000 Americans.
Though the exact cause of spasmodic dysphonia remains unclear, many researchers suggest that the condition can be triggered after a serious injury, infection, or major emotional disruption in the patient’s life. “For years people asked me if I had any trauma at that time,” Kennedy told The Los Angeles Times in 2024, adding that he first noticed his symptoms in the 1990s. “My life was a series of traumas… so there was nothing in particular that stood out.”
