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Jack Schlossberg, the grandson of former and late U.S. President John F. Kennedy, is trending after he mocked his relative Robert F. Kennedy Jr. over his health condition. RFK Jr., who’s the nephew of JFK, suffers from a chronic neurological voice disorder called spasmodic dysphonia.
In his Instagram Story on January 28, Jack Schlossberg tagged RFK Jr. and shared a video of himself speaking with a shaky voice as that of his relative, seemingly mocking his medical issue.
“Hey everybody, I’m trying to figure out the right present to get Donald Trump for the inauguration. So, I found a really rare animal and killed it and I’m gonna give it to him,” Schlossberg was heard saying.
At the end of the video, Jack showed a rubber octopus, alluding to the gift he was talking about in the clip.
Since the video circulated online, netizens have been criticizing the Vogue writer for mistreating a family member. For instance, X user @Frost544 commented on X Spaces host and influencer Tara Bull’s post on the same by writing:
“Ahhh yes, this is how you treat family.”
Many users joined the conversation and shared similar reactions on the platform.
“Someone has never been punched in the face for being disrespectful before...” a person wrote.
“Making fun of someone's condition is weak. RFK Jr. is out here fighting for freedom,” one person wrote.
“Pathetic trolls, by his own family! Disgusting, they tarnished the Kennedy name! Makes me sick!” wrote another.
Others continued to call out Jack Schlossberg for his insensitive gesture toward RFK Jr.
“Just makes me like @RobertKennedyJr even more!” a netizen wrote.
“With family like this, who needs the CIA??” another netizen asked.
“Wow how low will a family go over politics, this is disgusting,” an individual wrote.
“Disgraceful! The Kennedy name has been drug through the mud by them,” wrote another.
For the uninitiated, Spasmodic dysphonia is a vocal disorder that affects the muscles in the voice box/ larynx, causing it to “spasm.” This makes a person’s speech sound tight, strained, whispery, or breathy, while the voice quality sounds strangled or tremorous and is often interrupted.
During an April 2024 interview with the Los Angeles Times, RFK Jr. shared he “can’t stand” the sound of his “terrible” voice.
“My voice doesn’t really get tired. But the injury is neurological, so actually, the more I use the voice, the stronger it tends to get. If I could sound better, I would,” he said at the time.
Kennedy Jr. told the outlet that he first noticed a change in his voice in 1996 and claimed that a flu vaccine was “at least a potential culprit.” However, according to health.com, experts believe there’s no link between the two.
Exploring Jack Schlossberg’s past criticisms of RFK Jr.
Despite being part of the Kennedy family, Jack Schlossberg and RFK Jr. have shared a strained relationship, with the former often taking shots at the latter. For instance, when the Waterkeeper Alliance founder ran for President in the 2024 election, Jack, via a social media video in July 2023, said it was an “embarrassment” and a “vanity project.”
"I've listened to him. I know him. I have no idea why anyone thinks he should be president," Schlossberg shared back then.
He accused RFK Jr. of "trading in on Camelot, celebrity, conspiracy theories, and conflict for personal gain and fame." Kennedy, who ran as a Democratic candidate and later as an independent one, soon dropped out of the race and endorsed Donald Trump. Amid this, Jack Schlossberg tweeted:
"Never been less surprised in my life. Been saying it for over a year — RFK Jr. is for sale, works for Trump. Bedfellows and loving it. Kamala Harris is for the people — the easiest decision of all time just got easier."
On January 25, the eve of RFK Jr.’s Senate confirmation hearings, Jack Schlossberg posted a video on Instagram urging his family members to “Wake up” and speak up against Kennedy Jr. if they hadn’t already.
"This is for the rest of my cousins. I'm asking the media to ask my cousins—I have a lot of 'em—what they think and why they don't say anything, and what they know about Bobby Kennedy and why they aren't talking and all the stories they have,” Schlossberg wrote.
JFK’s only grandson continued about his relative:
“The guy's about to be in charge of public health for the United States of America. How about you ask my cousins some real questions? How come I'm the only one who's talking out? Wake up. This is not a f*cking drill. These guys are taking over. If they don't want to talk, then you know what side they're on. Later."
Following Donald Trump’s election win, Jack Schlossberg skipped attending RFK Jr.’s Make America Healthy Again Inaugural Ball. He also slammed Trump’s decision to declassify records related to JFK’s assassination, citing on X on January 23, “the truth is a lot sadder than the myth,” and calling the move a “political prop” and unheroic.
Last week, under one of his own Instagram videos, Jack Schlossberg tagged RFK Jr. and asked him why he was “scared” of him.
“Are you busy pouring over the JFK files?” Schlossberg asked as he said RFK Jr. never responded to him.
In the same comment, Jack also took a dig at RFK Jr.’s wife and actress Cheryl Hines.
Donald Trump has nominated Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. He will oversee other governmental agencies, including the FDA, CDC, and NIH.
