Michael Kosta, the recurring host of The Daily Show, was met with an awkward response after he attempted to do an impersonation of Robert F Kennedy Jr’s voice.
Kennedy, 71, who is Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services is currently undergoing a confirmation hearing in the Senate – which will confirm his control over a $1.7 trillion budget as the top health official.
Kennedy, who is married to actor Cheryl Hines, was grilled during the hearing over previous comments he has made about vaccines, disease and abortion rights.
In his dissection of the hearing, Kosta played a clip where Senator Michael Bennett asked Kennedy if he had said a number of quotes, one of which was about AIDS.
“Did you write in your book that it’s undeniable that African Aids is an entirely different disease than western AIDS?” asked Bennett. “I’m not sure,” said Kennedy.
Cutting back to Kosta, the host said: “Jesus Christ, this guy has said so many things that he can’t remember if he said Black AIDS is different from white AIDS.”
Putting on a raspy voice similar to Kennedy’s, Costa then adds: “White AIDS is so bland. And they put raisins in it. Don’t bring that white AIDS to my cookout.”
The impersonation and the joke seemed to attract a very mixed response from the audience who weren’t sure whether to laugh or not. “You guys aren’t sure how to react to the voice,” said Kosta in response.
RFK Jr has a rare voice disorder, spasmodic dysphonia, which he has had since he was 42.
The condition affects roughly one in 100,000 according to Cleveland Clinic. The disorder affects the muscles in the larynx by preventing the vocal cords from vibrating in a way that produces a normal speech pattern.
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The disorder can cause breaks in speech, a strained voice, and speech that may be difficult to understand.
According to the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, “there are no comparative studies pointing to a single, best treatment.”
Kennedy, the son of liberal political icon Robert Kennedy, who was assassinated in 1968 at 42 as he appeared set to clinch the Democratic nomination.
