Earlier this year, CNN faced backlash from conservatives online after many believed a pundit on the network mocked former Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for his medical condition. During a panel several months ago, Republican strategist Doug Heye claimed, “You can’t understand what he says,” adding that “if you can, you can’t understand what he says.”
Notably, RFK Jr. has Spasmodic Dysphonia Condition, which “causes involuntary spasms in the muscles of the voice box or larynx,” according to Johns Hopkins Medicine. The renowned medical institution added, “Spasmodic dysphonia can cause problems ranging from trouble saying a word or two to being not able to talk at all.” Due to the condition, when Kennedy speaks he often has a gravely voice.
Heye said on the segment, “Yeah, I was watching that. And Donald Trump last week stood and said in front of a bunch of groceries and said, I haven’t seen any Cheerios in a long time. I had Cheerios for breakfast.” Addressing Kennedy, he continued, “This was cuckoo for cocoa puffs. and trying to get any logic out of that is good luck with that, because it’s one, you can’t understand what he says. two, if you can, you can’t understand what he says. and reminded of a line of and Mel Brooks is Blazing Saddles when somebody gets up and gives it indecipherable speech he says, Who can argue with that, that’s authentic frontier gibberish and that’s exactly what that is.”
Sharing a clip of the video, Graham Allen wrote on X, “They actually mocked RFK Jr’s spasmodic dysphonia condition. So much for the party of ‘love.’” Many other users on X sounded off on CNN’s commentary on RFK Jr. “If you FOCUS on what he’s actually saying….. instead of the way his voice sounds….. you might understand the words coming out of his mouth. Simple solution to a simple problem,” one person commented.
“This is why RFK endorsed Trump because the left has completely mocked him, censored him, and tried to prevent him from being on the ballots. Why would he have any support for them after all that?” another person wrote.
“If that doorknob were to have done any research like a journalist should be doing to know the facts and tell the facts, you would’ve found out RFK has Spasmodic Dysphonia,” another person said. They continued to call out the seeming double standard in the media, writing, “Pretty messed up to say that about RFK when he has a medical condition. And yet they still won’t talk about Kamala’s word salads, or Biden inability to speak.”
Another conservative said, “@RobertKennedyJr has had a medical condition for a long time. But I found myself IGNORING that condition because the speech he gave was SO COMPELLING. He’s got a great story to tell, and naming names shows us how courageous he is. This was a self-inflicted wound. CNN and Democrats realize too late that they shot themselves in the foot, and possibly cost them the election.”
Note: The featured image is a screenshot from the embedded video.
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