# Why does R. Kennedy jr have that voice **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 17, 2025, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-r-kennedy-jr-have-that-voice/1019734 "2025-06-17T00:22:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Loggins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/74df32/32.png) [@Loggins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loggins)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2025, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-r-kennedy-jr-have-that-voice/1019734/1 "2025-06-17T00:22:54Z")
Did he have some illness? ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2025, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-r-kennedy-jr-have-that-voice/1019734/2 "2025-06-17T01:17:31Z")
He has [Spasmodic dysphonia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spasmodic_dysphonia) The muscles controlling his voice spasm. Diane Rehm from NPR has it too. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2025, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-r-kennedy-jr-have-that-voice/1019734/3 "2025-06-17T01:37:00Z")
My first wife has it. It came on later in life. She couldn’t trace it back to any specific illness, injury or other cause. ---
**Author:** ![DaveUnknown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/94ad74/32.png) [@DaveUnknown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaveUnknown)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2025, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-r-kennedy-jr-have-that-voice/1019734/4 "2025-06-17T02:39:44Z")
My grandmother had blepharospam, which is related. Her brother and niece both had muscular dystonia. In the 80’s she used to go to Duke Univ. medical every few months to get experimental treatments, which were injections of… botox, yes. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2025, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-r-kennedy-jr-have-that-voice/1019734/5 "2025-06-17T03:03:31Z")
His sister Kerry also has it. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2025, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-r-kennedy-jr-have-that-voice/1019734/6 "2025-06-18T01:51:35Z")
He reports having had spasmodic dysphonia for nearly 30 years, but only recently suggested it was due to flu vaccination - because everything bad medically _must_ be due to vaccines. Like the rest of his antivax crapola, the evidence doesn’t back up his claims. > **[Do flu vaccines cause spasmodic dysphonia?](https://www.voicesforvaccines.org/jtf_topics/do-flu-vaccines-cause-spasmodic-dysphonia/)** > > Do flu vaccines cause spasmodic dysphonia? Woody Harrelson and RFK Jr. claim a link, but science says otherwise. Learn the facts behind this rare voice disorder. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2025, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-r-kennedy-jr-have-that-voice/1019734/7 "2025-06-18T22:22:31Z")
Not to mention the millions of people who get a flu shot year after year and _don’t_ have that problem. 🤔 ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2025, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-r-kennedy-jr-have-that-voice/1019734/8 "2025-06-19T00:31:11Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > He reports having had spasmodic dysphonia for nearly 30 years, but only recently suggested it was due to flu vaccination Not the heroin? Color me surprised. > **[RFK Jr. Says Heroin Made Him a Top-of-Class Student in Resurfaced Clip: 'It...](https://people.com/rfk-jr-heroin-use-top-of-class-student-8752783)** > > Robert F. Kennedy Jr. claimed that using heroin as a student improved his academic performance in a resurfaced interview that has made waves on social media ---
**Author:** ![scudsucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scudsucker/32/14101_2.png) [@scudsucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scudsucker)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2025, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-r-kennedy-jr-have-that-voice/1019734/9 "2025-06-19T11:13:41Z")
My WAG about his voice is that so many people have throat-punched him over the years that his voicebox is permanently damaged. Not that I advocate violence, but I feel RFK Jr. not having a voice (in both senses) would be a net positive for the world. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2025, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-r-kennedy-jr-have-that-voice/1019734/10 "2025-06-19T11:21:03Z")
> [@Moriarty](#): > > Not the heroin? Color me surprised. I imagine it helped.