‘Get the Secretary Some Oxygen?’: RFK Jr’s Breathing Like ‘Darth Vader’ at a Senate Hearing Is So Distracting an Aide Told Him to Mute Mic
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s heavy breathing was so loud, labored, and distracting at a Senate Finance Committee hearing on Thursday that an aide had to tell him to mute his mic when he wasn’t speaking to the committee.
The contentious hearing was originally scheduled for senators to learn more about Kennedy’s plans to “Make America Healthy Again,” but devolved into shouting matches and fiery back-and-forths over the secretary’s changes to COVID-19 vaccine protocols and his firing of the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last week.
But during the raucous three-hour hearing, Kennedy’s breathing became more and more obvious and distracting even while senators were speaking.
His wobbly voice is caused by a neurological condition called spasmodic dysphonia, which affects speech. Vocal cord spasms due to the disease can also cause hard, noisy breathing.
Independent journalist Aaron Rupar, who was posting about the hearing live, called attention to the problem: “RFK Jr’s breathing now sounds like bomb explosions.”
“LMAO – an aide seemingly tells RFK Jr to mute his mic and stop breathing like a total freak,” Rupar said in another X post.
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And this, “I can’t focus on what senators are saying over RFK Jr’s breathing and wheezing. Sorry, folks,” Rupar said.
A social media storm followed.
“Stop breathing would be an ideal solution, honestly,” another X user agreed.
“Has RFK always sounded like Darth Vader? Is this new??” Peter Twinklage wondered in a post on X.
“Can someone get the Secretary some oxygen?” Rose Benson chimed in on X.
And this comment, “This hearing is now a comedy show. RFK Jr’s aide literally leaning in like ‘for God’s sake, mute your mic… stop breathing like Darth Vader.’ Unfit. Unhinged. Unbelievable.”
“Breathing like a malfunctioning vacuum cleaner? Mute yourself permanently!” Deepak Chendra ordered. Another X user agreed, “Imagine hearing that in the dark.”
During the hearing, Kennedy, a longtime leader in the anti-vax movement, tried to defend his decisions to change vaccine recommendations despite clear clinical and scientific evidence to the contrary and to explain the turmoil underway at federal health agencies such as the National Institutes of Health and the CDC.
Kennedy has made extensive changes since taking charge of the nation’s health agencies, including firing thousands of workers and science advisers and upending vaccine guidelines.
Public health experts have expressed fear and concern over his policies and his anti-vax views.
Kennedy also tried to explain why he fired Trump’s pick and Senate-confirmed CDC director, Susan Monarez, less than a month into her appointment. Other top leaders at the agency also resigned in protest.
Monarez wrote in The Wall Street Journal Thursday that Kennedy is trying to erode public health protections.
“I was told to preapprove the recommendations of a vaccine advisory panel newly filled with people who have publicly expressed antivaccine rhetoric,” she wrote. “It is imperative that the panel’s recommendations aren’t rubber-stamped but instead are rigorously and scientifically reviewed before being accepted or rejected.”
Monarez is referring to Kennedy’s firing in June of all 17 members of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, a panel of independent experts that makes vaccine recommendations and guidelines.
The Associated Press reported that several of Kennedy’s choices are critical of vaccines, especially the COVID-19 shot and mRNA vaccine technology in general, and have links to groups behind the spread of misinformation on vaccines.