NBC News analyst Chuck Todd says Robert F. Kennedy Jr. – who suffers from a neurological problem affecting his voice – would be a potential ‘asset’ in a debate for President Biden because Biden would look better in comparison.
“If you’ve ever spent a lot of time watching Robert Kennedy Jr. speak, I think if you were Joe Biden, you would want him on the debate stage,” Todd said Wednesday.
Todd’s remarks come as Biden and former President Trump agreed to two debates that, for now, exclude Kennedy since the independent candidate does not appear on enough state ballots. As the oldest president in history, questions about Biden’s physical vitality and age have become political flashpoints, and Todd suggested that Kennedy’s unusual way of speaking could form a useful contrast with Biden .
“I think there will be a point in the fall where they see this as an asset,” Todd said, referring to Biden’s campaign.
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Former President Trump, left, and President Biden, right, agreed to debates that currently exclude independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (Getty Images)
“I’m in the minority in this,” Todd said.
Kennedy has a particularly raspy and deep voice, due to a rare neurological condition called spasmodic dysphonia that affects the vocal muscles.
“Let’s be real, he has a vocal problem,” NBC host Andrea Mitchell told Todd during the chat, acknowledging what he was referring to. “It’s a disease.”
Todd argued that Kennedy’s vocal condition could “strangely help” offset Biden’s personal weaknesses as a candidate, predicting that Kennedy could be present at the second debate.
Biden and Trump Wednesday morning accepted two debates, one on June 27 hosted by CNN and a second on September 10 hosted by ABC. The Biden-Harris campaign has requested that the debates be held in a television studio, with microphones that automatically cut off when a speaker’s time is up.
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Kennedy suffers from a neurological condition called spasmodic dysphonia, which affects his voice. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)
Kennedy’s health became a center of media controversy after a years-old deposition was revealed showing the candidate previously claimed a parasitic worm ate part of his brain before dying in his skull.
Kennedy did Requirement during a deposition that took place as part of his divorce proceedings in 2012. He said he suffered from “cognitive issues” and feared he might have a brain tumor.
The Biden and Kennedy campaigns did not respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.
Anders Hagstrom of Fox News contributed to this report.
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