A duck quacked louder than the US health secretary, and it happened while he was talking about children who drown. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr was interrupted mid-sentence by a quacking duck ringtone during an autism safety speech.
Kennedy was speaking on Friday, 21 August 2026, in Rochester, Minnesota, at an event unveiling a new federal initiative to protect autistic people who wander from safe settings. The moment, caught on camera, has since spread widely online, though it was not the first time his phone had chosen an inconvenient moment to announce itself.
